Modeling and control of ceramic tile glazing using dimensional analysis

In this article we make use of dimensional analysis in order to obtain a model for control design purposes. The industrial system to be controlled is the ceramic tile glazing process. The dimensional analysis allows to go beyond first principles modeling and to consider modeling errors. The model obtained is used for feedforward control. Simulation examples show that it is possible to control the deposited glaze mass by just measuring the glaze temperature. However the measurement of the glaze flow results to be a critical variable if high accuracy on the deposited mass is pursued.