Decentralized Constrained Optimal Control Approach to Distributed Paper Machine Control

A decentralized control scheme is proposed to address a spatially distributed paper machine control problem under industrial investigation. The methodology is based on constrained optimal control and tackles the complexity of the problem by solving local problems of small size, which are coupled through their performance objectives and constraints. Properties of the decentralized scheme are analyzed in detail and compared to the existing centralized receding horizon controller currently used in industry. In terms of the simulated example the decentralized controller can achieve similar performance to the centralized controller but at a fraction of the computational cost.