Abstract
Efficient operation of a distributed solar collector field requires effective regulation of the outlet temperature. Control schemes utilising PI-based controllers, whether adaptive or fixed parameter, have been shown to be unsuitable for this application with a stable well-damped response only obtained at the expense of an unacceptably low speed of response. The reason for this is that collector fields possess low-frequency resonance dynamics which tend to restrict the bandwidth of such controllers. This paper examines the suitability and capability of PID controllers in this application area. Using experimental frequency response data, the Ziegler-Nichols tuning method for PID design is demonstrated to yield an unstable closed-loop system. However, by adopting a strategy which specifically aims to counter the adverse phase characteristics of the plant at resonance, good effective closed-loop control can be achieved. This is implemented as a pre-scheduled control scheme on the Acurex collector field at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria and tested in conjunction with a feedforward control scheme.
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