Practical aspects of discretisation of bilinear systems

This paper considers the link between continuous bilinear systems and their discrete time bilinear counterpart representations. In particular, practical aspects of implementing a new discretisation method, which retains a bilinear form for the resulting discretised system, are described. Benefits of retaining a discrete bilinear model structure are highlighted and considerations regarding its potential for use within a bilinear model based estimation and control scheme are discussed. The appropriateness of the approach is demonstrated when applied to an identified model of a high temperature industrial furnace.