Characteristics-based model predictive control of distributed parameter systems

Distributed parameter systems (DPS) are ubiquitous in industry. The existing control methods for these systems usually either involve complicated online computation or produce oscillatory process response resulting from frequent control moves. This paper proposes a model predictive control (MPC) method for DPS using method of characteristics. A simulation is run on a counter-flow plug flow reactor to illustrate the proposed approach. It shows that the proposed MPC possesses the advantage of high computation efficiency and desired performance.