Centralized Discrete State Space Model Predictive Control And Decentralized Pi-D Controller Of An Aerothermic Process

The aerothermic process is a pilot scale heating and ventilation system equipped with a heater grid and a centrifugal blower. The interaction between its main variables is considered as challenging for mono-variable controllers. A change in the ventilator speed affects the temperature behavior which represents a factor that must be managed for energy saving and the human welfare. This paper presents an experimental comparison between a Centralized Discrete State Space Model Predictive Control (CDSSMPC) and a Decentralized PI-D (DPI-D) controller. These both techniques are designed by using respectively the Laguerres functions and the static decoupler approach. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the two methods, an implementation on an aerothermic process is performed. This pilot scale is fully connected through the Humusoft MF624 data acquisition system for real time control. The results show satisfactory performance in closed-loop of the DPI-D controller compared to the CDSSMPC and the conventional PID ones.