Control performance evaluation of reverse osmosis desalination system based on model predictive control and PID controllers

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, to design an efficient control system for a Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant, a model predictive control (MPC) was established and compared to the obtained control system based on proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controllers. In order to control two controlled variables, namely permeate flow rate and conductivity, two PID controllers’ parameters were tuned based on the internal model control (IMC) rule and an MPC controller was established using the dynamic matrix control algorithm. The control performance assessment of both PID and MPC controllers were carried out using prediction error approach and their control performances were compared to that of the PID controllers which tuned by Ziegler–Nichols rule from the literature. The results showed that among the designed controllers, the PID controllers tuned by IMC method are more capable than other controllers to control the considered RO desalination plant.