Control of air flow in air heating set: Algebraic approach using structured singular value

The paper deals with the robust control of airflow in air heating set. The identification is performed using step responses and approximation via second order system. The controller is designed using the structured singular value (SSV or μ) and algebraic approach. Since the cost function is nonconvex the optimization cannot be done using standard tools. Hence an evolutionary algorithm - Differential Migration (DM) is employed yielding good results in this case. The functionality of the controller is verified through experiments on the real plant.