Optimal Control Structure Selection Based on Economics for Continuous Cross-Flow Grain Dryer

Abstract

In this work, we present the control structure selection problem based on steady-state economics applied to a continuous cross-flow grain dryer model. The optimal selection of the controlled and manipulated variables and their set-points can be obtained for various external disturbance scenarios if an appropriate mathematical programming problem is formulated. Simulation results show that the economics performance of classical open loop and closed loop structure used for dryer control can be improved by the use of linear combination of controlled variables and also by the use of a hierarchical control structure. In addition, we study several alternatives (sub-optimal) control structures that show an acceptable economic performance.

Keywords:

• Dryer
• control
• optimization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank the financial support from Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), and Centro Franco-Argentino de Ciencias de la Información y de Sistemas (CIFASIS).