text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|May 20, 2008
|Filing date
|Sep 11, 2002
|Priority date
|Sep 11, 2002
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Wilhelm Wojsznis, Terry Blevins, Mark Nixon
|Original Assignee
|Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (78), Non-Patent Citations (46), Referenced by (83), Classifications (13), Legal Events (3)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The present invention relates generally to process control systems and, more particularly, to the use of an optimized model predictive controller within a process control system.
Process control systems, such as distributed or scalable process control systems like those used in chemical, petroleum or other processes, typically include one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to each other, to at least one host or operator workstation and to one or more field devices via analog, digital or combined analog/digital buses. The field devices, which may be, for example valves, valve positioners, switches and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure and flow rate sensors), perform functions within the process such as opening or closing valves and measuring process parameters. The process controller receives signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices and/or other information pertaining to the field devices, uses this information to implement a control routine and then generates control signals which are sent over the buses to the field devices to control the operation of the process. Information from the field devices and the controller is typically made available to one or more applications executed by the operator workstation to enable an operator to perform any desired function with respect to the process, such as viewing the current state of the process, modifying the operation of the process, etc.
Process controllers are typically programmed to execute different algorithms, sub-routines or control loops (which are all control routines) for each of a number of different loops defined for, or contained within a process, such as flow control loops, temperature control loops, pressure control loops, etc. Generally speaking, each such control loop includes one or more input blocks, such as an analog input (AI) function block, a single-output control block, such as a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) or a fuzzy logic control function block, and a single output block, such as an analog output (AO) function block. These control loops typically perform single-input/single-output control because the control block creates a single control output used to control a single process input, such as a valve position, etc. However, in certain cases, the use of a number of independently operating, single-input/single-output control loops is not very effective because the process variables being controlled are affected by more than a single process input and, in fact, each process input may affect the state of many process outputs. An example of this might occur in, for example, a process having a tank being filled by two input lines, and being emptied by a single output line, each line being controlled by a different valve, and in which the temperature, pressure and throughput of the tank are being controlled to be at or near desired values. As indicated above, the control of the throughput, the temperature and the pressure of the tank may be performed using a separate throughput control loop, a separate temperature control loop and a separate pressure control loop. However, in this situation, the operation of the temperature control loop in changing the setting of one of the input valves to control the temperature within the tank may cause the pressure within the tank to increase, which, for example, causes the pressure loop to open the outlet valve to decrease the pressure. This action may then cause the throughput control loop to close one of the input valves, thereby affecting the temperature and causing the temperature control loop to take some other action. As will be understood in this example, the single-input/single-output control loops cause the process outputs (in this case, throughput, temperature and pressure) to behave in an unacceptable manner wherein the outputs oscillate without ever reaching a steady state condition.
Model predictive control (MPC) or other types of advanced control have been used to perform process control in situations in which changes to a particular controlled process variable affects more than one process variable or output. Since the late 1970s, many successful implementations of model predictive control have been reported and MPC has become the primary form of advanced multivariable control in the process industry. Still further, MPC control has been implemented within distributed control systems as distributed control system layered software. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,616,308 and 4,349,869 generally describe MPC controllers that can be used within a process control system.
Generally speaking, MPC is a multiple-input/multiple output control strategy in which the effects of changing each of a number of process inputs on each of a number of process outputs is measured and these measured responses are then used to create a control matrix or a model of the process. The process model or control matrix (which generally defines the steady state operation of the process) is inverted mathematically and is then used in or as a multiple-input/multiple-output controller to control the process outputs based on changes made to the process inputs. In some cases, the process model is represented as a process output response curve (typically a step response curve) for each of the process inputs and these curves may be created based on a series of, for example, pseudo-random step changes delivered to each of the process inputs. These response curves can be used to model the process in known manners. Model predictive control is known in the art and, as a result, the specifics thereof will not be described herein. However, MPC is described generally in Qin, S. Joe and Thomas A. Badgwell, "An Overview of Industrial Model Predictive Control Technology," AIChE Conference, 1996.
MPC has been found to be a very effective and useful control technique and has used in conjunction with process optimization. To optimize a process which uses MPC, an optimizer minimizes or maximizes one or more process input variables determined by the MPC routine so as to cause the process to run at an optimal point. While this technique is computationally possible, it is necessary to select the process variables that have, for example, a significant impact on improving the economic operation of the process (e.g. process throughput or quality) to optimize the process from an economic standpoint. Operating the process at an optimal point from a financial or economic viewpoint typically requires controlling many process variables in conjunction with one another, not just a single process variable.
Optimizing with the use of quadratic programming techniques or more current techniques like interior point methods has been proposed as a solution to providing dynamic optimization with MPC. With these methods, an optimization solution is determined and the optimizer provides the controller with moves in the controller outputs (i.e., the manipulated variables of the process), taking into account process dynamics, current constraints and optimization objectives. However, this approach has a tremendous computational burden and is not practically feasible at the current technology level.
In most cases when using MPC, the number of manipulated variables available within the process (i.e., the control outputs of the MPC routine) is greater than the number of control variables of the process (i.e., the number of process variables that must be controlled to be at a particular set point). As a result, there are usually more degrees of freedom that are available for optimization and constraint handling. Theoretically, to perform such optimization, values expressed by process variables, constraints, limits and economic factors defining an optimal operation point of the process should be calculated. In many cases, these process variables are constrained variables because they have limits related to physical properties of the process to which they pertain and within which these variables must be kept. For example, a process variable representing tank level is limited to the maximum and minimum levels of the actual tank physically achievable. An optimizing function may calculate the costs and/or profits associated with each of the constrained or auxiliary variables to operate at a level in which profit is maximized, costs are minimized, etc. Measurements of these auxiliary variables can then be provided as inputs to the MPC routine and treated by the MPC routine as control variables having a set point equal to the operational point for the auxiliary variable defined by the optimization routine.
MPC delivers the best performance often required by the application only for square control, in which the number of control inputs to the process (i.e., the manipulated variables developed by the control routine) is equal to the number of process variables being controlled (i.e., the inputs to the controller). In most cases however, the number of auxiliary constraint variables plus the number of process control variables is greater than the number of manipulated variables. Implementation of MPC for such non-square configurations leads to unacceptably poor performance.
It is believed that others have tried to overcome this problem by dynamically selecting a set of control and constrained variables equal to the number of manipulated variables and generating the controller on-line or during process operation to determine the next moves in the manipulated variables. This technique, however, is computationally expensive because it applies matrix inversion and can not be use in some cases, like MPC implemented as a function block in a process controller. Equally important is that some combinations of inputs and outputs of the generated controller may result in an ill-conditioned controller, which results in unacceptable operation. While conditioning of the controller can be verified and improved when the controller configuration is set up off-line, this task is an excessive burden for on-line operation and is practically impossible to implement at the controller level.
An integrated optimization and control technique combines an optimization procedure with advanced control, such as model predictive control, procedure in which the number of control and auxiliary constraint variables can be greater than or less than the number of manipulated variables within the process plant. The technique first determines a step response matrix defining the correlation between changes in the manipulated variables and each of the process variables (which may be control variables and auxiliary variables) which are used within an optimizer to determine the optimal operating point of the process. A subset of the process control variables and auxiliary variables having a number equal to or less than the number of manipulated variables is selected to be used as inputs to the MPC routine during operation of the process. The gain matrix for the MPC controller based on this subset of control and auxiliary variables and manipulated variables is then used to create the MPC controller that is used during operation of the MPC routine. Thereafter, during each scan of the process controller, the optimizer routine calculates the optimal operating target of each of the complete set of control and auxiliary variables and provides a set of determined target operating points for each of the selected subset of control and auxiliary variables to the MPC routine as inputs. The MPC routine then determines changes in the manipulated variables for use in controlling the process from the predetermined MPC matrix using the subset of control and auxiliary variables as inputs. Typically, the subset of control and auxiliary variables is selected as the control and auxiliary variables having step responses with the highest gain and fastest response time for one of the manipulated variables. This technique enables the MPC routine to be used having the same number of inputs as outputs while still allowing an optimization routine to determine the optimal operation point of the process using an optimization routine that considers more control and auxiliary variables than there are manipulated variables within the process. This technique is robust as it operates to quickly control to a desired operational point in response to disturbances and noise within the process and, furthermore, is computationally simple as it does not require the recalculation of the MPC matrix during each scan of the process control system.
Referring now to
The field devices 15-22 may be any types of devices, such as sensors, valves, transmitters, positioners, etc. while the I/O cards 26 and 28 may be any types of I/O devices conforming to any desired communication or controller protocol. In the embodiment illustrated in
The controller 11, which may be one of many distributed controllers within the plant 10 having at least one processor therein, implements or oversees one or more process control routines, which may include control loops, stored therein or otherwise associated therewith. The controller 11 also communicates with the devices 15-22, the host computers 13 and the data historian 12 to control a process in any desired manner. It should be noted that any control routines or elements described herein may have parts thereof implemented or executed by different controllers or other devices if so desired. Likewise, the control routines or elements described herein to be implemented within the process control system 10 may take any form, including software, firmware, hardware, etc. For the purpose of this discussion, a process control element can be any part or portion of a process control system including, for example, a routine, a block or a module stored on any computer readable medium. Control routines, which may be modules or any part of a control procedure such as a subroutine, parts of a subroutine (such as lines of code), etc. may be implemented in any desired software format, such as using ladder logic, sequential function charts, function block diagrams, object oriented programming or any other software programming language or design paradigm. Likewise, the control routines may be hard-coded into, for example, one or more EPROMs, EEPROMs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other hardware or firmware elements. Still further, the control routines may be designed using any design tools, including graphical design tools or any other type of software/hardware/firmware programming or design tools. Thus, the controller 11 may be configured to implement a control strategy or control routine in any desired manner.
In one embodiment, the controller 11 implements a control strategy using what are commonly referred to as function blocks, wherein each function block is a part or object of an overall control routine and operates in conjunction with other function blocks (via communications called links) to implement process control loops within the process control system 10. Function blocks typically perform one of an input function, such as that associated with a transmitter, a sensor or other process parameter measurement device, a control function, such as that associated with a control routine that performs PID, fuzzy logic, etc. control, or an output function which controls the operation of some device, such as a valve, to perform some physical function within the process control system 10. Of course hybrid and other types of function blocks exist. Function blocks may be stored in and executed by the controller 11, which is typically the case when these function blocks are used for, or are associated with standard 4-20 ma devices and some types of smart field devices such as HART devices, or may be stored in and implemented by the field devices themselves, which may be the case with Fieldbus devices. While the description of the control system is provided herein using a function block control strategy which uses an object oriented programming paradigm, the control strategy or control loops or modules could also be implemented or designed using other conventions, such as ladder logic, sequential function charts, etc. or using any other desired programming language or paradigm.
As illustrated by the expanded block 30 of
As illustrated in
Still further, the MPC controller 52 calculates and provides a set of predicted steady state control variables CVSS and auxiliary variables AVSS along with a set of predicted steady state manipulated variables MVSS representing the predicted values of the control variables CV, the auxiliary variables AV and the manipulated variables MV, respectively, at the control horizon, to the input processing/filter block 58. The input processing/filter block 58 processes the determined predicted steady state values of the control, auxiliary and manipulated variables CVSS, AVSS and MVSS to reduce the effects of noise and unpredicted disturbances on these variables. It will be understood that the input processing/filter block 58 may include a low pass filter or any other input processing that reduces the effects of noise, modeling errors and disturbances on these values and provides the filtered control, auxiliary and manipulated variables CVSSfil, AVSSfil and MVSSfil to the optimizer 54.
The optimizer 54 is, in this example, a linear programming (LP) optimizer that uses an objective function (OF) that may be provided from a selection block 62 to perform process optimization. Alternatively, the optimizer 54 could be a quadratic programming optimizer which is an optimizer with a linear model and a quadratic objective function. Generally speaking, the objective function OF will specify costs or profits associated with each of a number of control, auxiliary and manipulated variables and the optimizer 54 sets target values for those variables by maximizing or minimizing the objective function. The selection block 62 may select the objective function OF provided to the optimizer 54 as one of a set of pre-stored objective functions 64 which mathematically represent different manners of defining optimal operation of the process 50. For example, one of the pre-stored objective functions 64 may be configured to maximize the profit of the plant, another one of the objective functions 64 may be configured to minimize the use of a particular raw material that is in short supply while a still further one of the objective functions 64 may be configured to maximize the quality of the product being manufactured within the process 50. Generally speaking, the objective function uses a cost or profit associated with each move of a control, auxiliary and manipulated variable to determine the most optimal process operating point within the set of acceptable points as defined by the set point values or ranges of the control variables CV and the limits of the auxiliary and manipulated variables AV and MV. Of course, any desired objective function can be used instead or in addition to those described herein including objective functions which optimize each of a number of concerns, such as use of a raw material, profitability, etc. to some degree.
To select one of the objective functions 64, a user or operator may provide an indication of the objective function 64 to be used by selecting that objective function on an operator or user terminal (such as one of the workstations 13 of
In addition to the objective function OF, the optimizer 54 receives, as inputs, a set of control variable set points (which are typically operator specified set points for the control variables CV of the process 50 and may be changed by the operator or other user) and a range and weight or priority associated with each of the control variables CV. The optimizer 54 additionally receives a set of ranges or constraint limits and a set of weights or priorities for the auxiliary variables AV and a set of limits for the manipulated variables MV being used to control the process 50. Generally speaking, the ranges for the auxiliary and manipulated variables define the limits (typically based on physical properties of the plant) for the auxiliary and manipulated variables while the ranges for the control variables provide a range in which the control variables may operate for satisfactory control of the process. The weights for the control and auxiliary variables specify the relative importance of the control variables and the auxiliary variables with respect to one another during the optimization process and may be used, in some circumstances, to enable the optimizer 54 to generate a control target solution if some of the constraints are violated.
During operation, the optimizer 54 may use a linear programming (LP) technique to perform optimization. As is known, linear programming is a mathematical technique for solving a set of linear equations and inequalities that maximizes or minimizes a certain additional function called the objective function. As discussed above, the objective function may express economic value like cost or profit but may express other objectives instead. Further, as will be understood, the steady state gain matrix defines the steady state gain for each possible pair of the manipulated variables and the control or auxiliary variables. In other words, the steady state gain matrix defines the steady state gain in each control and auxiliary variable for a unit change in each of the manipulated and disturbance variables. This steady state gain matrix is generally an N by M matrix, where N is the number of control and auxiliary variables and M is the number of manipulated variables used in the optimizer routine. Generally, N can be greater than, equal to, or less than M, with the most common case being that N is greater than M.
Using any known or standard LP algorithm or technique, the optimizer 54 iterates to determine the set of target manipulated variables MVT (as determined from the steady state gain matrix) which maximize or minimize the selected objective function OF while resulting an process operation that meets or falls within the control variable CV set point range limits, the auxiliary variable AV constraint limits and the manipulated variable MV limits. In one embodiment, the optimizer 54 actually determines the change in the manipulated variables and uses the indication of the predicted steady state control variables, auxiliary variables and manipulated variables CVSSfil, AVSSfil and MVssfil to determine the changes in the process operation from its current operation, that is, to determine the dynamic operation of the MPC control routine during the process of reaching the target or optimal process operating point. This dynamic operation is important as it is necessary to assure that none of the constraint limits is violated during the move from the current operating point to the target operating point.
In one embodiment, the LP optimizer 54 may be designed to minimize an objective function of the following form:
Q=P t *A*ΔMV+C t ΔMV
Q=total cost/profit
P=profit vector associated with the AVs and CVs
C=cost vector associated with MVs
A=Gain matrix
ΔMV=vector for calculated change in MVs
The profit values are positive numbers and the cost values are negative numbers to indicate their influence on the objective. Using this objective function, the LP optimizer 54 calculates the changes in the manipulated variables MV that minimize the objective function while insuring that the control variables CV remain within a range from their target set point, that the auxiliary variables AV are within their upper and lower constraint limits and that the manipulated variables MV are within their upper and lower limits.
In one optimization procedure that can be used, incremental values of manipulated variables are used at the present time (t) and a sum of increments of manipulated variables are used over the control horizon with incremental values of control and auxiliary variables being determined at the end of prediction horizon, instead of positional current values, as is typical in LP applications. Of course, the LP algorithm may be appropriately modified for this variation. In any event, the LP optimizer 54 may use a steady state model and, as a result, a steady state condition is required for its application. With a prediction horizon as normally used in MPC design, future steady state is guaranteed for a self-regulating process. One possible predicted process steady state equation for an m by n input-output process, with prediction horizon p, control horizon c, expressed in the incremental form is:
denotes predicted changes in outputs at the end of prediction horizon (t+p),
is the process steady state m by n gain matrix,
denotes changes in manipulated variables at the end of control horizon (t+c)
The vector ΔMV(t+c) represents the sum of the changes over control horizon made by every controller output mvt so that.
The changes should satisfy limits on both the manipulated variables MV and the control variables CV (here auxiliary variables are treated as control variables):
MV min ≦MV current +ΔMV(t+c)≦MV max
CV min ≦CV predicted +ΔCV(t+p)≦CV max
In this case, the objective function for maximizing product value and minimizing raw material cost can be defined jointly as:
UCV is the cost vector for a unit change in the control variable CV process value; and
UMV is the cost vector for a unit change in the manipulated variables MV process value.
Applying the first equation above, the objective function can be expressed in terms of manipulated variables MV as:
To find an optimal solution, the LP algorithm calculates the objective function for an initial vertex in the region defined by this equation and improves the solution every next step until the algorithm determines the vertex with the maximum (or minimum) value of the objective function as an optimal solution. The determined optimal manipulated variable values are applied as the target manipulated variables MVT to be achieved within control horizon.
Generally speaking, running the LP algorithm on the prepared matrix returns three possible results. First, there is a unique solution for the target manipulated variables MVT. Second, the solution is unbounded, which should not happen if each control and auxiliary variable has a high and a low limit. Third, there is no solution, which means the boundaries or constraints on the auxiliary variables are too tight. To handle the third case, the overall constraints may be relaxed to obtain a solution. The basic assumption is that limits on manipulated variables (Hi/Lo limits) can not be changed by optimizer. The same is true for constraint or limits of the auxiliary variable (Hi/Lo limits). However, the optimizer can change from driving the control variable CV to the specified set points (CV set point control) to driving the control variables to any of the values within a range from or around the set point (CV range control). In this case, the values of the control variables are allowed to be placed within a range rather than at a specific set point. If there are several auxiliary variables AV violating their constraints, and switching from CV set point control to CV range control does not provide a solution, it is also possible to relax or to ignore the constraints of the auxiliary variables based on the provided weights or priority designations. In one embodiment, a solution could be determined by minimizing the squared error of the auxiliary variables allowing each of them to violate their respective constraint or by abandoning constraints of the auxiliary variables with lowest priority in a sequential manner.
As noted above, the objective function OF may be chosen or set by default by the control block generation program 40. One method of establishing such a default setting is provided below. In particular, while it is desirable to provide the ability to optimize, many situations may only require that set points for the control variables be maintained in a manner that still observes the operating constraints of the auxiliary variables and manipulated variables. For these applications, the block 38 may be configured to operate solely as an MPC function block. To provide this ease of use, a default "Operate" objective function may be automatically created with default costs assigned to the different variables therein along with default auxiliary variable AV weights. These defaults may set all costs for the auxiliary variables AV and the manipulated variables MV equal or provide some other predetermined cost assignment to the auxiliary and manipulated variables AV and MV. When an expert option is selected, then the user may create additional optimization selections and define their associated costs for the different objective functions 64. The expert user will also be allowed to modify the default auxiliary variable and control variable AV and CV weights of the default objective function.
In one embodiment when, for example, economics are not defined for the process configuration, the objective function may be constructed from the MPC configuration automatically. In general, the objective function may be constructed using the following formula.
The variables Cj and pj can be defined from the configuration settings. In particular, assuming that the control variable CV set point can be defined at LL or HL only, the pj value is defined in the following way:
pj=−1 if set point is defined at LL or minimize was selected; and
pj=1 if set point is defined at HL or maximize was selected.
Assuming no configuration information is entered for the auxiliary variables AV, pj=0 for all auxiliary variables AV. Similarly for the manipulated variables MV, the Cj value depends on whether or not the preferred manipulated variable target MVT is defined. Where the preferred manipulated target MVT is defined:
Cj=1 if MVT is at the HL (high limit) or maximize was selected,
Cj=−1 if MVT is at the LL (low limit) or minimize was selected, and
Cj=0 if MVT is not defined.
If desired, the selection of the use of the optimizer 54 in conjunction with the MPC controller 52 may be adjustable to thereby provide a degree of optimization. To perform this function, the change in the manipulated variables MV used by the controller 52 can be altered by applying different weights to the change in the manipulated variables MV determined by the MPC controller 52 and the optimizer 54. Such a weighted combination of the manipulated variables MV is referred to herein as an effective MV (MVeff). The effective MVeff can be determined as:
ΔMV eff =ΔMV mpc(1+α/S)+ΔMV opt(1−α) 0<α<1
where S is arbitrarily or heuristically selected. Typically, S will be greater than one and may be in the range of ten.
Here, with α=1, the optimizer contributes to the effective output as it was set at the generation. With α=0, the controller provides MPC dynamic control only. Of course, the range between 0 and 1 provides different contributions of optimizer and MPC control.
The above described default objective function may be used to establish the operation of the optimizer during different possible operational modes thereof. In particular, when the number of control variables CVs match the number of manipulated variables MVs, the expected behavior with the default setting is that the control variable CV set points will be maintained as long as auxiliary variables AVs and the manipulated variables MVs are projected to be within their limits. If it is predicted that an auxiliary variable or a manipulated variable will violate its limit, then the control variable working set points will be changed within their range to prevent these limits from being violated. If, in this case, the optimizer 54 can not find a solution that satisfies auxiliary and manipulated variable limits while maintaining the control variables within their range, then control variables will be maintained within their range while the auxiliary variables are allowed to deviate from their constraint limits. In finding the best solution, those auxiliary variables AVs that are projected to violate a limit will be treated equally and their average limit deviation minimized.
To achieve this behavior, the default cost/profit used by the objective function will automatically be set such that the control variables CV will be assigned a profit of 1 if the range is defined to allow deviation below the set point and a profit of −1 if the range is defined to allow deviation above the set point. The auxiliary variables AVs within limits will be assigned a profit of 0 and the manipulated variables MVs will be assigned a cost of 0.
When the number of control variables CVs is less than number of manipulated variables MVs, then the extra degrees of freedom can be used to address the requirements associated with the configured manipulated variable's MV final resting position. Here, the control variable set points (if any control variables CVs are defined) will be maintained as long as the auxiliary and manipulated variables are projected to be within their limits. The average deviation of the manipulated variables from the configured final resting position will be minimized. If it is predicted that one or more of the auxiliary and manipulated variables will violate its limit, then the control variable working set points will be changed within their ranges to prevent these limits from being violated. Under this condition, if multiple solutions exist, then the one used for the control will minimize the average deviation of the manipulated variables from configured the final resting position.
When the optimizer 54 can not find a solution (i.e., a solution does not exist) that satisfies the auxiliary and manipulated variables limits while maintaining the control variables within their range, then the control variables will be maintained within range while the auxiliary variables are allowed to deviate from their constraint limits. In finding the best solution, those auxiliary variables that are projected to violate a limit will be treated equally and their average limit deviation minimized. To achieve this behavior, the default cost/profit used by objective function will automatically be set so that the control variables will be assigned a profit of 1 if the range is defined to allow deviation below the set point and −1 if the range is defined to allow deviation above the set point. The auxiliary variables will be assigned a profit of 1 or −1 and the manipulated variables will be assigned a cost of 0.1.
In any event, after operation, the optimizer 54 provides the set of optimal or target manipulated variables MVT to the target conversion block 55 which uses the steady state gain matrix to determine the target steady state control and manipulated variables that result from the target manipulated variables MVT. This conversion is computationally straightforward, as the steady state gain matrix defines the interactions between the manipulated variables and the control and auxiliary variables and thereby can be used to uniquely determine the target manipulated and auxiliary variables CVT and AVT from the defined target (steady state) manipulated variables MVT.
Once determined, at least of a subset of N of the target control and auxiliary variables CVT and AVT are provided as inputs to the MPC controller 52 which, as noted previously, uses these target values CVT and AVT to determine a new set of steady state manipulated variables (over the control horizon) MVSS which drives the current control and manipulated variables CV and AV to the target values CVT and AVT at the end of the control horizon. Of course, as is known, the MPC controller changes the manipulated variables in steps in an attempt to reach the steady state values for these variables MVSS which, theoretically, will be the target manipulated variables MVT determined by the optimizer 54. Because the optimizer 54 and MPC controller 52 operate as described above during each process scan, the target values of the manipulated variables MVT may change from scan to scan and, as a result, the MPC controller may never actually reach any particular one of these sets of target manipulated variables MVT, especially in the presence of noise, unexpected disturbances, changes in the process 50, etc. However, the optimizer 54 is always driving the controller 52 to move the manipulated variables MV towards an optimal solution.
As is known, the MPC controller 52 includes a control prediction process model 70, which may be an N by M+D step response matrix (where N is the number of control variables CV plus the number of auxiliary variables AV, M is the number of manipulated variables MV and D is the number of disturbance variables DV). The control prediction process model 70 produces on an output 72 a previously calculated prediction for each of the control and auxiliary variables CV and AV and a vector summer 74 subtracts these predicted values for the current time from the actual measured values of the control and auxiliary variables CV and AV to produce an error or correction vector on the input 76.
The control prediction process model 70 then uses the N by M+D step response matrix to predict a future control parameter for each of the control variables and auxiliary variables CV and AV over the control horizon based on the disturbance and manipulated variables provided to other inputs of the control prediction process model 70. The control prediction process model 70 also provides the predicted steady state values of the control variables and the auxiliary variables CVSS and AVSS to the input processing/filter block 58.
A control target block 80 determines a control target vector for each of the N target control and auxiliary variables CVT and AVT provided thereto by the target conversion block 55 using a trajectory filter 82 previously established for the block 38. In particular, the trajectory filter provides a unit vector defining the manner in which control and auxiliary variables are to be driven to their target values over time. The control target block 80 uses this unit vector and the target variables CVT and AVT to produce a dynamic control target vector for each of the control and auxiliary variables defining the changes in the target variables CVT and AVT over time period defined by the control horizon time. A vector summer 84 then subtracts the future control parameter vector for each of the control and auxiliary variables CV and AV from the dynamic control vectors to define an error vector for each of the control and auxiliary variables CV and AV. The future error vector for each of the control and auxiliary variables CV and AV is then provided to the MPC algorithm which operates to select the manipulated variable MV steps that minimize the, for example, least squared error, over the control horizon. Of course, the MPC algorithm or controller uses an M by M process model or control matrix developed from relationships between the N control and auxiliary variables input to the MPC controller 52 and the M manipulated variables output by the MPC controller 52.
More particularly, the MPC algorithm working with the optimizer has two main objectives. First, the MPC algorithm tries to minimize CV control error with minimal MV moves, within operational constraints and, second, tries to achieve optimal steady state MV values set up by optimizer and the target CV values calculated directly from the optimal steady state MV values.
To satisfy these objectives, the original unconstrained MPC algorithm can be extended to include MV targets into the least square solution. The objective function for this MPC controller is:
CV(k) is the controlled output p-step ahead prediction vector;
R(k) is the p-step ahead reference trajectory (set point) vector;
ΔMV(k) is the c-step ahead incremental control moves vector;
Γy=diag{Γy 1, . . . , Γy p} is a penalty matrix on the controlled output error;
Γu=diag{Γu 1, . . . , Γu c} is a penalty matrix on the control moves;
p is the prediction horizon (number of steps);
c is the control horizon (number of steps); and
Γ0 is a penalty on error of the sum of controller output moves over control horizon relative to the target optimal change of MV defined by the optimizer. For the simplicity of notation, the objective function is shown for single-input/single-output (SISO) control.
As will be understood, the first two terms are the objective function for the unconstrained MPC controller while the third term sets up an additional condition that makes the sum of the controller output moves equal to the optimal targets. In other words, the first two terms set up objectives for controller dynamic operation while the third term sets up steady state optimization objectives.
It will be noted that the general solution for this controller similar to that for the unconstrained MPC controller, can be expressed as:
ΔMV(k)=(S u
ΔMV(k) is the change in MPC controller output at the time k;
Kompc is the optimized MPC controller gain;
Su is the process dynamic matrix built from the step responses of dimension p�c for a SISO model and p*n�c*m for a multiple-input/multiple-output MIMO model with m manipulated inputs and n controlled outputs.
For optimized MPC, the dynamic matrix is extended to the size: (p+1)�m for SISO model and (p+m)*n�c*m for MIMO model, to accommodate the MV error. Ep+1(k) is the CV error vector over the prediction horizon and error of the sum of controller output moves over control horizon relative to the target optimal change of MV. The matrix Γ combines the matrix Γy and Γ0 and is a square matrix of dimension (p+1) for a SISO controller and [n(p+m)] for the multivariable controller. Superscript T denotes a transposed matrix.
It has been determined that, because the optimizer 54 is optimizing based on all of the control and auxiliary variables CV and AV to determine a target set of manipulated variables MVTT defining a unique optimal operating point, it does not matter that the MPC controller 52 is only operating using a subset of the control and auxiliary variables CV and AV in its control matrix to actually produce the manipulated variables MV output therefrom because, when the controller 52 drives the selected subset of control and auxiliary variables CV and AV to their associated targets, the others of the complete set of control and auxiliary variables will be at their target values as well. As a result, it has been determined that a square (M by M) MPC controller with an M by M control matrix can be used with an optimizer that uses a rectangular (N by M) process model to perform process optimization. This enables standard MPC control techniques to be used with standard optimization techniques without having to invert a non-square matrix with the attendant approximations and risks associated with such conversion techniques in a controller.
In one embodiment, when the MPC controller is squared, i.e., the number of manipulated variables MV is equal to the number of control variables CV, then the manipulated variable MV target can be effectively achieved by changes in CV values as follows:
ΔMVT—optimal target change of MV
ΔCV—CV change to achieve optimal MV. CV change is implemented by managing CV set points.
In operation, the optimizer 54 sets up and updates the steady state targets for the MPC unconstrained controller at every scan. Thus, the MPC controller 52 executes the unconstrained algorithm. Because the targets CVT and AVT are set in a manner that accounts for constraints, as long as a feasible solution exists, the controller works within constraint limits. Optimization, therefore, is an integral part of the MPC controller.
At a block 94, the operator defines the particular manipulated variables, control variables, constrained variables and disturbance variables to be used in the block 38. If desired, in a configuration program, such as the program 40 of
As will be understood, the user can specify the inputs to and the outputs from the MPC-PRO function block by drawing lines between these inputs and outputs and the inputs and outputs of other function blocks. Alternatively, the user may select the MPC-PRO block to obtain access to the properties of the MPC-PRO block. A dialog box, such as that of
The user may specify or change the information for one or more of the variables by selecting the variable. In this case, a dialog box, such as that of
After selecting the inputs and outputs to the advanced control function block, the user may define the set points associated with the control variables, the ranges or limits associated with the control variables, the auxiliary variables, and the manipulated variables, and the weights associated with each of the control, auxiliary and manipulated variables. Of course, some of this information, such as constraint limits or ranges may already be associated with these variables as these variables are selected or found within the process control system configuration environment. If desired, at a block 96 of
After the inputs (control, auxiliary and disturbance variables) are named and tied to the advanced control template and the weights, limits and setpoints are associated therewith, at a block 98 of
In any event, after the advanced control template is downloaded into the controller, the operator may, at a block 100, select to run a test phase of the control template to generate the step response matrix and the process model to be used within the MPC controller algorithm. As described in the patent identified above, during the test phase, control logic within the advanced control block 38 provides a series of pseudo-random waveforms to the process as the manipulated variables and observes the changes in the control and auxiliary variables (which are treated by the MPC controller essentially as control variables). If desired, the manipulated and disturbance variables, as well as the control and auxiliary variables may be collected by the historian 12 of
Prior to creating a process model for the advanced control block, the operator may graphically specify the data to be used from the trending plots 101. In particular, the operator may specify beginning and ending points 108 and 110 of the plot 102 as the data to be used to create the step response. The data in this area may be shaded a different color, such as green, to visually indicate the selected data. Likewise, the operator may specify areas within this shaded area to be excluded (as being non-representative, an effect of noise or an unwanted disturbance, etc.). This area is illustrated between the lines 112 and 114 and may be shaded, for example, in red to indicate that this data is not to be included in the generation of the step responses. Of course, the user could include or exclude any desired data and may perform these functions for each of a number of trend plots (
To create a set of step responses, the operator may select the create model button 116 on the screen display of
After the step response matrix is created, in the case in which the control and auxiliary variables outnumber the manipulated variables, the step response matrix is used to select the subset of control and auxiliary variables that will be used within the MPC algorithm as the M by M process model or control matrix to be inverted and used within the MPC controller 52. This selection process may be performed manually by the operator or automatically by a routine within, for example, the user interface 13 having access to the step response matrix. Generally speaking, a single one of the control and auxiliary variables will be identified as being the most closely related to a single one of the manipulated variables. Thus, a single and unique (i.e., different) one of the control or auxiliary variables (which are inputs to the process controller) will be associated with each of the different manipulated variables (which are the outputs of the process controller) so that that the MPC algorithm can be based on a process model created from an M by M set of step responses.
In one embodiment which uses a heuristic approach in providing pairing, the automatic routine or the operator will select the set of M (where M equals the number of manipulated variables) control and auxiliary variables in an attempt to select the single control or auxiliary variable that has some combination of the largest gain and fastest response time to a unit change in a particular one of the manipulated variables and pair these two variables. Of course, in some cases, a particular control or auxiliary variable may have a large gain and fast response time to multiple manipulated variables. Here, that control or auxiliary variable may be paired with any of the associated manipulated variables and may, in fact, be paired with a manipulated variable that does not produce the largest gain and fastest response time because, in the aggregate, the manipulated variable that causes the lesser gain or slower response time may not effect any other control or auxiliary variable to an acceptable degree. Thus, the pairs of manipulated variables on the one hand and the control or auxiliary variables on the other hand are chosen to, in an overall sense, pair the manipulated variables with the subset of control and auxiliary variables that represent the most responsive control variables to the manipulated variables. Still further, it doesn't matter if all of the control variables are not selected as one of the subset of M control and auxiliary variables and that, therefore, the MPC controller does not receive all of the control variables as inputs thereto, because the set of control and auxiliary variable targets are chosen by the optimizer to represent an operating point of the process at which the non-chosen control (as well as the non-chosen auxiliary) variables are at their set point or within their provided range of operation.
Of course, because there may be tens and even hundreds of control and auxiliary variables on the one hand and tens or hundreds of manipulated variables on the other hand, it can be difficult to select the set of control variables and auxiliary variables that have the best response to each of the different manipulated variables, at least from a visualization standpoint. To overcome this problem, the advanced control block generation routine 40 within the operator interface 13 may include or present a set of screen displays to the user or operator to help or enable the operator to make appropriate selections of the control and auxiliary variables that should be used as the subset of control and auxiliary variables to be used in the MPC controller 52 during operation.
Thus, at a block 120 illustrated in
As illustrated in
As will be understood, the display screens of
In another embodiment, an automatic selection process may first determine a control matrix by selecting an input/output matrix based on the condition number of the matrix, e.g., by minimizing the condition number to some desired extent, and by then developing a controller configuration from the control matrix.
In this example, for a process gain matrix, A, the condition number of the matrix AT A may be determined to test the matrix controllability. A smaller condition number generally means better controllability while a higher condition number means less controllability and more control steps or moves during dynamic control operation. There are no strict criteria for defining an acceptable degree of controllability and, therefore, the condition number can be used as a relative comparison of various potential control matrices and as a test for ill conditioned matrices. As is known, a condition number for an ill conditioned matrix approaches infinity. Mathematically, ill conditioning occurs in the case of co-linear process variables—that is, due to co-linear rows or columns in the control matrix. Thus, a major factor that affects the condition number and controllability is cross-correlation between matrix rows and columns. Careful selection of the input-output variables in the control matrix can reduce conditioning problems. Practically, there should be a concern if the condition number of a control matrix is in the hundreds (e.g., 500) or higher. With such a matrix, controller manipulated variable moves are highly excessive.
As discussed above, the control matrix solves the dynamic control problem, while the LP optimizer solves the steady state optimization problem and the control matrix needs to be a square input-output matrix even though MPC controller block may have an unequal number of MVs (including AVs) and CVs. To begin selecting the inputs and output for the control matrix for use in generating the controller, all the available MVs are typically included or selected as controller outputs. After selecting the outputs (the MVs), the process output variables (i.e., the CVs and AVs) that are made part of the dynamic control matrix must be selected in such a manner to produce a square control matrix that is not ill conditioned.
One method of automatically or manually selecting the CVs and AVs as inputs within the control matrix will now be discussed, it being understood that other methods may be used as well.
Step 1—CVs are selected until, if possible, the number of CVs equals the number of MVs (i.e., the number of controller outputs). In the case in which there are more CVs than MVs, the CVs may be chosen in any order based on any desired criteria, such as the priority, gain or phase responses, user input, etc. If the total possible number of CVs is equal to the number of MVs then proceed to Step 4 to test the resulting square control matrix condition number for acceptability. If the number of CVs is less than the number of MVs, AVs may be selected as described in Step 2. If there are no CVs defined, select the AV with maximum gain relative to an MV and go to Step 2.
Step 2—Calculate one by one, the condition number for every possible AV added to already selected control matrix defined by the previously selected CVs and AVs. As will be understood, the matrix defined by the selected CVs will include a row for each selected CV and AV, defining the steady state gain for that CV or AV to each of the previously selected MVs.
Step 3—Select the AV determined in Step 2 that results in the minimum condition number for the resulting matrix and define the matrix as the previous matrix with the addition of the selected AV. If number of MVs now equals the number of selected CVs plus the number of selected AVs (that is, if the matrix is now square) go to Step 4. Otherwise return to Step 2.
Step 4—Calculate the condition number for the created square control matrix Ac. If desired, the condition number calculation for the matrix Ac instead of the matrix Ac TAc may be used, as the condition numbers for these different matrices are related as the squared root of the other.
Step 5—If the condition number calculated at Step 4 is acceptable, associate every CV and selected AV with an MV, by selecting the CV or AV having the maximum gain relative to a specific MV until the pairing is complete. At this point the selection process is complete. If, on the other hand, the condition number is greater than the minimum acceptable condition number, remove the last AV/CV added to the control matrix and perform the wrap-around procedure of Step 6.
Step 6—Perform a wrap-around procedure for each of the selected MVs, one at a time and calculate the condition number of the matrix that results from each wrap-around procedure. Essentially, a wrap-around procedure is performed by placing, in turn, a unity response for each of the different MVs in place of removed AV (or CV). The unity response will be unity at one of the positions in the row of the matrix and zero everywhere else. In essence, each the particular MVs is being used as an input and an output in this case instead of the AV to form a well conditioned square control matrix. As an example, for a four by four matrix, the combinations 1000, 0100, 0010, and 0001 will be placed in the row of the removed AV line in the gain matrix, Ac.
Step 7—After performing a wrap around procedure for each of the MVs, select the combination that results in the minimum condition number. If there is no improvement, keep the original matrix). At this point, associate every selected CV and selected AV with an MV, by selecting the CV or AV with maximum gain relative to a specific MV, excluding the MV that is used for controlling itself (i.e., the MV that was wrapped-around).
Of course, the control matrix defined by this procedure as well as the resulting condition number may be submitted to the user and the user can accept or reject the defined control matrix for use in generating the controller.
It should be noted that, in the automatic procedure described above, at most only one MV was selected for controlling itself (i.e., wrapped-around) for the purpose of improving controllability. In the manual procedure the number of wrapped-around MVs can be arbitrary. The MVs selected for controlling themselves are evident by the absence of a corresponding output variable selection in the controller configuration. Also, one can use more MVs as wrap-arounds for control if the number of MVs is greater than the number of total CVs plus AVs. In this way, at the end, a square control matrix is still provided to the controller having each of the MVs as outputs. It will be understood that the process of performing and using wrap-arounds means that the number of CVs and AVs selected for the control matrix can be less than the number of MVs controlled by the controller, with the difference being the number of MVs wrap-around as inputs the control matrix. Further, this wrap-around procedure can be used in a process that has less CVs plus AVs than MVs.
Of course, the condition number is calculated above using the steady state gains and, therefore, the control matrix defines controllability essentially for steady state. Process dynamics (dead time, lag, etc.) and model uncertainty also have an effect on dynamic controllability and these effects can be taken into account by changing the priority of process variables (e.g., control and auxiliary variables), which may dictate their inclusion in the control matrix due to the effects they have on dynamic control.
It is also possible to use other heuristic procedures intended to improve both steady state and dynamic controllability. Such a procedure would typically have number of heuristic criteria, possibly some that are contradictory, that are applied in several phases to develop a control matrix and, thereby select an appropriate set of controller inputs, that provide some improvements of the control matrix. In one such heuristic procedure, the CVs and the AVs will be grouped by MV based on the highest gain relationship. Then, for each MV grouping the one process output with fastest dynamics and significant gain will be selected. This selection process may consider confidence interval and give preference to CVs over AVs (with all else equal). The process model generation routine will then use the parameter selected from each group during the MPC control generation. Because only one parameter is selected for each MV, the response matrix is square and can be inverted.
In any event, after choosing the subset of M (or less) control and auxiliary variable inputs to the MPC controller, a block 124 of
If desired, the process step responses may be reconfigured or provided in a manner other than the generation of these step responses. For example, ones of the step responses may be copied from different models and provided into the screens of, for example
Referring now to
Next, at a block 152, the input processing/filter block 58 (
In some cases, however, due to tight constraints on some or all of the auxiliary or manipulated variables, it may be impossible to find an operating point at which all of the control variables are at their set point and all of the auxiliary variables are within their respective constraint limits because such a solution does not exist. In these cases, as noted above, the optimizer 54 may allow the control variables to relax within their specified set point ranges in an attempt to find an operating point in which the auxiliary variables operate within their respective limits. If no solution exists in this case, then the optimizer may drop one of the auxiliary variable constraint limits as a limit within the solution and, instead, determine the optimal process operating point ignoring the dropped auxiliary variable constraint limits. Here, the optimizer chooses which auxiliary or control variable to drop as a constraint limit based on the respective weights provided for each of the control and auxiliary variables (with, for example, the lowest weight or highest priority being dropped first). The optimizer 54 continues to drop auxiliary or control variables based on their provided weights or priorities until it finds an target manipulated variable MVT solution in which all of the set point ranges for the control variables and the limits for the remaining, higher priority auxiliary variables are met.
Next, at a block 156, the target conversion block 55 (
During operation, one or more monitoring applications run in, for example, one of the interfaces 13 may subscribe to information from the advanced control block or other function blocks communicatively connected thereto, either directly or through the historian 12, and provide one or more viewing or diagnostics screen to the user or operator for viewing the operational state of the advanced control block. Function block technology features cascade inputs (CAS_IN) and remote cascade inputs (RCAS_IN) as well as corresponding back calculation outputs (BKCAL_OUT and RCAS_OUT) on both control and output function blocks. It is possible, using these connectors, to attach a supervisory optimized MPC control strategy on top of the existing control strategy and this supervised control strategy may be viewed using one or more viewing screens or displays. Likewise, targets for the optimized MPC controller can be modified from a strategy as well, if so desired.
While the advanced function block has been illustrated herein as having an optimizer located within the same function block and therefore executed in the same device as the MPC controller, it is also possible to implement the optimizer in a separate device. In particular, the optimizer may be located in a different device, such as in one of the user workstations 13 and communicate with the MPC controller as described in conjunction with
While the advanced control block and other blocks and routines described herein have been described herein as being used in conjunction with Fieldbus and standard 4-20 ma devices, they can, of course, be implemented using any other process control communication protocol or programming environment and may be used with any other types of devices, function blocks or controllers. Although the advanced control blocks and the associated generation and testing routines described herein are preferably implemented in software, they may be implemented in hardware, firmware, etc., and may be executed by any other processor associated with a process control system. Thus, the routine 40 described herein may be implemented in a standard multi-purpose CPU or on specifically designed hardware or firmware such as, for example, ASICs, if so desired. When implemented in software, the software may be stored in any computer readable memory such as on a magnetic disk, a laser disk, an optical disk, or other storage medium, in a RAM or ROM of a computer or processor, etc. Likewise, this software may be delivered to a user or to a process control system via any known or desired delivery method including, for example, on a computer readable disk or other transportable computer storage mechanism or modulated over a communication channel such as a telephone line, the internet, etc. (which is viewed as being the same as or interchangeable with providing such software via a transportable storage medium).
Thus, while the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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Filofax Topaz - Mini Plum Organiser
Sale $99.00
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text:
Recently, I read a New York Times story that made me stand up and take notice.
Even though the point of the story had more to do with addicted gamblers, one part had me champing at the bit.
The bet was, "I'll bet you $100,000 that you can't get down to your college weight in the next 12 months."
Wanna bet?
"You're on," was the first thought that raced through my mind in response.
Weighing in at 205 pounds, if you don't think I can lose 45 pounds by next July, then put your money where your mouth is.
Then I read another story that Mississippi had topped the "fattest state in the nation list" again, according the Centers for Disease Control.
Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight. A 5-foot, 9-inch adult who weighs 203 pounds would have a BMI of 30, which is considered the threshold for obesity.
So, I went to www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ to calculate my BMI.
And there it was, another Mississippian pulling the Magnolia State down in the national rankings.
My BMI is 30.6.
The next question that raced through my mind was, "If I had the money in the bank, what would I be willing to pay to make sure I live longer than just the next 12 months?"
For me, and I suppose for 99 percent of everyone on the planet, the answer is "incalculable."
But let somebody drop the $100,000 college-weight bet, and you will be at the YMCA at 5:30 a.m., riding the stationary bike, running on the treadmill and counting the money faster than you can count calories.
Weight loss is a problem that most of us deal with, whether it be in Mississippi or Colorado (the least obese state), but life can get in the way; kids, job — life.
It is not always an easy proposition, and managing a healthy lifestyle is difficult, at best.
Particularly in Mississippi, we are a poor state with few resources. Is there a correlation to the fact that we are the poorest state in the nation as well as the most obese?
On the other end of the spectrum, some of the least obese states in the nation (Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado and Delaware) rank in the top 10 in the nation in per-capita income.
Having said all of that, we know that living an obese lifestyle leads directly to a shorter lifespan.
So, I ask, considering most of us would jump off the sofa immediately if we were offered $100,000 to lose 30, 40 or 50 or 100 pounds in a year, how much is your life worth?
It's a question that should make all of us want to get up and out and begin that walking regimen that we have been planning for every Monday the last several years.
Here's to Mississippi moving up in the rankings next year.
Contact MBJ managing editor Ross Reily at firstname.lastname@example.com or (601) 364-1018.