Abstract
In several industries using pipelines to transport different products from one point to another is a common and indispensable process, especially at oil/hydrocarbon industries. Thus, optimizing the way this process is carried out must be an issue that cannot be stopped. Therefore, the performance of the control strategy implemented is one way of reaching such optimal operating zones. This study proposes using Model Predictive Control strategies for solving some issues related to the proper operation of pipelines. It is proposed a model based on physics and thermodynamic laws, using MATLAB® as the development environment. This model involves four pumping stations separated by three pipeline sections. Three MPC strategies are developed and implemented. Accordingly, the results indicate that a centralized controller with an antiwindup back-calculation method has the best results among the three configurations used.
Highlights
Transporting various fluids through pipelines is one of the most used transport mechanisms worldwide, mainly because it allows transporting large volumes in relatively short periods [1]
The essential contribution of this work is to explore and to implement in simulation three different model predictive control (MPC) control configurations for a pipeline transportation process: (1) two decoupled control systems, an MPC based control system for pressure and an on-off control system for level, (2) two decoupled control systems for pressure and level based on MPC strategy, and (3) one MPC control system for pressure and level
Three different control configurations were implemented: (1) two decoupled control systems, a discrete time model predictive control (DMPC) based control system for pressure, and an on-off control system for level, (2) two decoupled control systems for pressure and level based on DMPC strategy, and (3) one control system for pressure and level, in this configuration, the design model used is shown in (22)
Summary
Transporting various fluids through pipelines is one of the most used transport mechanisms worldwide, mainly because it allows transporting large volumes in relatively short periods [1]. Some works have been performed by researchers to enhance the performance of pipeline transportation systems [3, 4] by introducing a set of sufficient conditions to guarantee asymptotic stability for hydraulic pipeline systems described by the so-called water hammer equations These conditions are integrated into a receding horizon optimal control scheme. The essential contribution of this work is to explore and to implement in simulation three different MPC control configurations for a pipeline transportation process: (1) two decoupled control systems, an MPC based control system for pressure and an on-off control system for level, (2) two decoupled control systems for pressure and level based on MPC strategy, and (3) one MPC control system for pressure and level It has been proposed an alternative option for constraint handling which involves applying a back-calculation scheme.
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