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Simple fractional order controller combined with a Smith predictor for temperature control in a steel slab reheating furnace

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Abstract

This paper proposes a simple fractional order controller combined with a Smith predictor scheme for controlling the temperature of a steel slab reheating furnace. The dynamic model of the preheating zone of this process is obtained from an identification procedure applied in an industrial furnace. This identification procedure yields a second order plus time delay transfer function which undergoes large time delay changes. A fractional order integral controller combined with a Smith predictor is therefore designed. Simulated results compare the performances of the proposed fractional order controller with a standard PI controller, also combined with a Smith predictor, an LQR controller, and an H ∞ robust controller, in the case of the nominal process, and when the time delay varies. Four performance indexes have been used in this comparison: three related to the output performance (settling time, overshooting, and integral absolute error (IAE)), and a fourth one related to the control effort (TV). The analysis of these indexes shows that the simple fractional order controller provides lower values of the compared indexes when time delay becomes much higher than the nominal value.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Industrial Engineering, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Edif. Politecnica, Av Camilo Jose Cela S/N, Ciudad Real, 13071, Spain

    Vicente Feliu-Batlle & Fernando J. Castillo-García

  2. Department of Automatica and Computer Science, Havana Polytechnic University, St. 114 No 11901, CUJAE, Marianao, Ciudad de la Habana, 19390, Cuba

    Raul Rivas-Perez

Authors
  1. Vicente Feliu-Batlle
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  2. Raul Rivas-Perez
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  3. Fernando J. Castillo-García
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fernando J. Castillo-García.

Additional information

Recommended by Editorial Board member Hamid Reza Karimi under the direction of Editor PooGyeon Park.

Vicente Feliu-Batlle received his M.Sc. (with honors) in Industrial Engineering and a Ph.D. from the Polytechnical University of Madrid, Spain in 1979 and 1982, respectively. He also holds an M.Sc. in physics (1986). He was Dean of the School of Industrial Engineering, at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, from 1994 to 2008. Currently he is leading the Automation and Robotics group at the same university. His research interests include multi-variable and digital control systems, fractional dynamics and control, kinematic and dynamic control of rigid and flexible robots and computer vision for robots. He is senior member of the IEEE and a member of IFAC.

Raul Rivas-Perez received his M.Sc. (with honors) in Automatic Control Engineering from the Odessa Polytechnic University, Ukrainian in 1979 and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Land Reclamation of Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences in 1984. He has been professor in the Havana Polytechnic University since 1995. Currently he is leading the Advanced Control Systems group at the same university. His research interests include identification and control of complex dynamic plants, fractional dynamics and control, system identification for robust control and control of large time-delay systems. He is a member of the Cuban Academy of Science and a member of IFAC.

Fernando J. Castillo-García received his degree in Industrial Engineering and his Ph.D. in Mechatronics from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, in 2000 and 2010, respectively. He has been teaching assistant in the University of Castilla-La Mancha since 2000, and since 2009 he works in the Science and Technologic park in Albacete-Spain developing research projects with the industry. His research interests include fractional calculus and control, control and modeling of flexible manipulators and motion control.

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Feliu-Batlle, V., Rivas-Perez, R. & Castillo-García, F.J. Simple fractional order controller combined with a Smith predictor for temperature control in a steel slab reheating furnace. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 11, 533–544 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-012-0355-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-012-0355-z

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