WebCAST seminar entitled:

"Real-Time Implementation of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control"

By
Professor Michael A. Henson, Dept. of Chem. Eng.,  University of
Massachusetts, Amherst

Date: Thursday, October 2, 2008, 1-3 pm (EST)
Dial-in from the comfort of your office to hear the presentation
Deadline to Register: Thursday, September 25, 2008 (details at
http://www.castdiv.org/WebCAST.htm)


Abstract

Linear model predictive control (LMPC) is well established as the
industry standard for controlling
constrained multivariable processes. A major limitation of LMPC is that
plant behavior is described
by linear dynamic models. As a result, LMPC is inadequate for highly
nonlinear processes and
moderately nonlinear processes with large operating regimes. This
shortcoming coupled with increasingly
stringent demands on throughput and product quality spurred the
development of nonlinear model predictive
control (NMPC). NMPC is conceptually similar to its linear counterpart
except that nonlinear dynamic
models are used for process prediction and optimization. The purpose of
this WebCAST is to provide an
overview of current NMPC technology with a focus on the real-time
implementation issues required to obtain
a computationally efficient controller. The necessary background will be
introduced by reviewing basic concepts
of nonlinear process modeling and optimization. The principles will be
illustrated with a highly nonlinear
cryogenic air separation column model.



Bio-Sketch: Professor Michael A. Henson
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Dr. Michael A. Henson is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and
Director of the Process Design and
Control Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He received
his B.S from the University of
Colorado (1985), M.S from the University of Texas (1988), and Ph.D. from
the University of California,
Santa Barbara (1991), all in Chemical Engineering. Prior to his
appointment at UMass, he held a faculty
appointment at Louisiana State University and visiting positions at
DuPont and the University of Stuttgart. He
serves as an Associate Editor for Automatica and the Journal of Process
Control. He has received several
awards including the Career Development Award from the National Science
Foundation and the Alexander
von Humboldt Research Fellowship (Germany). His research interests are
nonlinear modeling and control
of complex chemical and biological systems.

-- 
Mayuresh V. Kothare
R. L. McCann Professor
Chemical Process Modeling and Control Research Center
Department of Chemical Engineering
Lehigh University, D322 Iacocca Hall
111 Research Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18015, U.S.A.
Tel: (610) 758 6654; Fax: (610) 758 5057
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.lehigh.edu/~mvk2