Adaptive regulation of super-heated steam temperature: a case study in an industrial boiler

Abstract

This paper describes the application of the MUSMAR predictive adaptive controller to the regulation of super heated steam temperature in a commercial boiler. The boiler considered produces 150 t/ h of steam at maximum load, used both for electric energy production in a turbine and industrial use. The combination of predictive and adaptive techniques, relying on multiple models redundantly estimated, allows a continuous adjustment of the controller tuning for tracking plant dynamics variations. This paper describes experiments actually performed on the plant with adaptive predictive control, in particular in the presence of load changes. A reduction of steam temperature fluctuations with respect to an optimized cascade of PI controllers is observed.