Set-Point Tracking and Multi-Objective Optimization-Based PID Control for the Goethite Process

Abstract

The goethite process is complicated since its chemical reactions interact with each other, making its control and optimization in industrial production difficult. The goal of the goethite process is to make the outlet ion concentration satisfy the technical requirements with minimal process consumption. To simplify the difficulties of optimization in the goethite process, an optimization method based on a set-point tracking strategy is proposed. The set-point tracking strategy is used to transform the complex state constraints into an additional objective. Therefore, the single optimization control problem for the goethite process is transformed into a bi-objective optimization control problem. Furthermore, PID controllers are adopted to control the addition amounts of zinc oxide and oxygen in the goethite process. The optimal parameters of the PID controllers are obtained via a multi-objective state transition algorithm (MOSTA). The performance of MOSTA is verified by several benchmark test functions with performance matrices. The control performance reveals that the proposed method is an effective way to control the process and can not only reduce the zinc oxide and oxygen addition amounts compared with manual operation and traditional PID control but also reject disturbances. The proposed method can satisfy the industrial requirements with less energy consumption.