Intelligent optimal control of furnace temperature for the municipal solid waste incineration process using multi-loop controller and particle swarm optimization

Abstract

Furnace temperature (FT) is a key variable in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) processes, influenced by many manipulated variables and directly impacting pollutant concentrations in exhaust gas. Domain experts cannot achieve the optimal FT setpoint value under manual control, leading to abnormal pollutant emission concentrations. To address this, we propose an intelligent optimal control framework for FT aiming to minimize pollutant emission concentration. First, the FT controlled object model is established using the Tikhonov regularization-least regression decision tree (TR-LRDT) algorithm. Then, based on the experience of domain experts, a multi-loop controller is developed using an improved single neuron adaptive PID (ISNA-PID) algorithm to stabilize FT. Next, after establishing NOx and CO2 indicator models, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed to determine the FT setpoint value in terms of minimum pollutant emission concentration. Finally, the FT intelligent optimal control framework is verified. Experimental results indicate that the optimal FT setpoint value can reduce NOx and CO2 emission concentrations by 19.93 % and 6.99 %, respectively.