Publication

Fast model predictive control for hydrogen outflow regulation in ethanol steam reformers

Conference Article

Conference

American Control Conference (ACC)

Edition

2016

Pages

5044-5049

Doc link

http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACC.2016.7526153

File

Download the digital copy of the doc pdf document

Abstract

In the recent years, the presence of alternative power sources, such as solar panels, wind farms, hydro-pumps and hydrogen-based devices, has significantly increased. The reasons of this trend are clear: contributing to a reduction of gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Hydrogen based devices are of particular interest due to their significant efficiency and reliability. Reforming technologies are among the most economic and efficient ways of producing hydrogen. In this paper we consider the regulation of hydrogen outflow in an ethanol steam reformer (ESR). In particular, a fast model predictive control approach based on a finite step response model of the process is proposed. Simulations performed using a more realistic non-linear model show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in driving the ESR to different operating conditions while fulfilling input and output constraints.

Categories

control theory, optimisation, predictive control.

Author keywords

predictive control,nonlinear systems,fast control algorithms, ethanol reformers

Scientific reference

M. Torchio, C. Ocampo-Martínez, L. Magni, M. Serra, R. Braatz and D. Raimondo. Fast model predictive control for hydrogen outflow regulation in ethanol steam reformers, 2016 American Control Conference, 2016, Boston, MA, pp. 5044-5049.