Robust tracking of the heating value in an underground coal gasification process using dynamic integral sliding mode control and a gain-scheduled modified Utkin observer. (January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Uppal, Ali Arshad; Butt, Saif Siddique; Khan, Qudrat; Aschemann, Harald
• Is Part Of: Journal of process control. Volume 73(2019)
• Page Start: 113
• Page End: 122
• Publication Date: 2019-01
• Subjects: Underground coal gasification control -- Energy conversion systems -- Dynamic integral sliding mode control -- Gain-scheduled modified Utkin observer; Process control -- Periodicals; Fabrication -- Contrôle -- Périodiques; Process control; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 660.281
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jprocont.2018.11.005
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-1524

Abstract

Highlights: A robust dynamic integral sliding mode control (DISMC) is designed for the approximated model to track the desired heating value. The unknown states required for the model-based control are reconstructed using a gain-scheduled modified Utkin observer (GSMUO). To guarantee the stability of the overall system, the boundedness of the internal dynamics is also proved. To make a fair comparison the performance of the proposed controller is compared with an integral sliding mode and a classical PI controllers. Abstract: In this paper, a model-based control and state reconstruction of an underground coal gasification (UCG) process is elaborated. In order to deploy model-based control strategies, a sophisticated model of the UCG process based on partial differential equations is approximated with a nonlinear control-oriented model that adequately preserves the fundamental dynamic characteristics of the process. A robust dynamic integral sliding mode control (DISMC) is designed based on the control-oriented model to track the desired heating value, which is one of the key indicators for evaluating the performance of an UCG process. Unknown states required for the model-based control are reconstructed using a gain-scheduled modified Utkin observer (GSMUO). In order to assess the robustness of the nonlinear control and estimation techniques, the water influx phenomenon is considered as an input disturbance. Moreover, the underlying UCG plant model is subjected to parametric variations as well as measurement noise. In order to guarantee the stability of the overall system, the boundedness of the internal dynamics is also proved. To make a fair comparison, the performance of the proposed controller is compared with an integral sliding mode control (ISMC) and a classical proportional-integral (PI) controller. Simulation results highlight the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme in terms of minimum control energy and improved tracking error. Moreover, the simulation study shows that the combination of DISMC and GSMUO exhibit robustness against an input disturbance, parametric uncertainties and measurement noise.