9357827 Lee This grant is to provide research support for Dr. Jay H. Lee under the National Science Foundation's Young Investigator Program. The objective of this research is to devise an integrated modelling/estimation and control technique suitable for complex chemical plant operations. The three key areas of process control: modelling, estimation, and control, and interdependent and need to be studied on common grounds. A synergistic framework will be developed that can be readily applied in practice. Nonlinearity, model uncertainty, adaptivity, and operational ease will be addressed within a common framework. The PI plans to use Model Predictive Control (MPC) as the flexible framework for these issues. The theory will be applied to devising control schemes for a pulp digester and a 20 tray bubble-cap distillation column. Ultimately it is planned to expand the application areas to include electrochemical processes such as fuel cells and batteries.
