Hierarchical supervisory control and plant monitoring applied to industrial furnaces incorporating a priori knowledge

The paper proposes a novel model-based hierarchical supervisory control and plant monitoring system. Key to the new approach is a model of a furnace which takes into account the physical nonlinear behavior within each zone at the local level, the inter-zone behavior at the intermediate level and overall plant performance monitoring at the higher level. Through the use of a priori knowledge in the development of the model(s) the paper stresses the fact that optimum plant performance, hence profitability at the higher level, can only be achieved through a thorough understanding of the issues at the lower and intermediate level. In particular, the paper proposes a new predictive supervisory control strategy which is able to proactively administer set points at the intermediate level to ensure that the exit temperature at the final stage is achieved.