Modeling and control of boiler in thermal power plant using model reference adaptive control

Abstract

The boiler is a multi-variable system, which is very difficult to control due to its nonlinear behavior, uncertainties, interactions between variables, and unmeasured and frequent disturbances. Instead of conventional control techniques, modern control techniques are being implemented in most boilers by industries. Mathematical modeling is a useful tool to analyze a complex system’s performance and design a controller for the same. The mathematical model is derived from the open-loop data obtained from the process station. The mathematical equation is then derived using the decoupling technique in terms of transfer function. An adaptive controller is designed and implemented for the model and the simulation study for the same is carried out using MATLAB. The proposed method discussed in the paper can adjust the controller parameters in response to changes in plant and disturbance in real-time by referring to the reference model that specifies the properties of the desired control system.