Ebook: Control Configuration Selection for Multivariable Plants

Control of multivariable industrial plants and processes has been a challenging and fascinating task for researchers in this field. The analysis and design methodologies for multivariable plants can be categorized as centralized and decentralized design strategies. Despite the remarkable theoretical achievements in centralized multiva- able control, decentralized control is still widely used in many industrial plants. This trend in the beginning of the third millennium is still there and it will be with us for the foreseeable future. This is mainly because of the easy implementation, main- nance, tuning, and robust behavior in the face of fault and model uncertainties, which is reported with the vast number of running decentralized controllers in the industry. The main steps involved in employing decentralized controllers can be summarized as follows: • Control objectives formulation and plant modeling. • Control structure selection. • Controller design. • Simulation or pilot plant experiments and Implementation. Nearly all the textbooks on multivariable control theory deal only with the control system analysis and design. The important concept of control structure selection which is a key prerequisite for a successful industrial control strategy is almost unnoticed. Structure selection involves the following two main steps: • Inputs and outputs selection. • Control configuration selection or the input-output pairing problem. This book focuses on control configuration selection or the input-output pairing problem, which is defined as the procedure of selecting the appropriate input and output pair for the design of SISO (or block) controllers.

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This book focuses on control configuration selection or the input-output pairing problem, which is defined as the procedure of selecting the appropriate input and output pair for the design of SISO (or block) controllers. An improper input-output pairing selection can be detrimental to closed loop stability and performance. The main objective in selecting an appropriate control configuration is to minimize the loop interactions. This will facilitate the single input single output independent design that is the basis of many industrial control systems. This book is the first monograph to deal in depth with the issue of control configuration selection. It is designed and written to serve the needs of a wide audience working in the area of decentralized control systems both in the academia and industry. The engineers and students interested in control configuration selection techniques, engineers already acquainted with the basic concepts and willing to be familiar with the more advanced strategies and postgraduate students who in addition to the aforementioned points want to get to the frontiers of research in the field may find this book useful.