Predictive control scheme by integrating event-triggered mechanism and disturbance observer under actuator failure and sensor fault

Liquid-level control in an interacting storage-tank system exhibits major challenges due to the effect of interaction and the presence of combustible/flammable liquid as it faces huge threats from the unmeasurable disturbances, irregular geometry and unmodelled dynamics of the process plant. A combination of tanks with multiple geometries may be preferred for storing liquids using common pumps for energy conservation. Continuous improvement of risk assessment, predicting hazardous scenarios and implementation of inherently-safer-control systems ensure process safety and, as a result, ease out the safe operation. From the process analysis, it was observed that the dynamics of the interacting tank are very sensitive to effective parameters like valve coefficient and pump gain. To overcome the loss of inventory or production, we investigate the synthesis of a non-linear model predictive control scheme with an outline of simultaneous state and parameter estimation strategies. This mechanism deals with a stochastic event-trigger cubature Kalman filter scheme to estimate process states while performing servo operations. To mitigate plant uncertainty, reduce the impact of large disturbances and nullify the effect of actuator failure/sensor fault, influential model parameters are estimated simultaneously with the model state(s). Predicted values of the model states/parameters/faults are used to derive an effective control effort. An inferential non-linear model predictive control paradigm is proposed, where the primary variable(s) is (are) measured with the help of measurable secondary state(s). To demonstrate the practical utility and effectiveness of the control framework for safe operation and loss prevention, a complex industrial process (quadrupled tank) is considered for control, where the system dynamics have been structured newly. Realistic simulations such as servo-regulatory compliance and elimination of measurement noise with a state-of-the-art simulator ensures the efficacy of the proposed scheme. The results are analysed further for a comparative study with traditional non-linear model predictive control law. To guarantee convergence of the estimator and stability of the closed-loop controller, the Lyapunov theorem is well blended.

Automated summary

Liquid-level control in interacting storage-tank system faces challenges due to interaction, combustible liquid and unmeasurable disturbances. This study proposes a nonlinear model predictive control scheme with parameter estimation strategies to overcome these challenges and ensure safe operation.