This paper presents the application of an adaptive predictive control system, entitled 'Steam Temperature Optimizer' (STO), in the combined cycle of the Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA at Barranco de Tirajana in the Canary Islands. This combined cycle comprises two gas turbines of 70 MW each, two recovery boilers, and one steam turbine also of 70 MW. The STO was applied to the control of the temperature of the high-pressure recovery boilers and integrated in parallel with the plant's distributed control system by means of object linking and embedding for process control communication. The STO control strategies, designed to deal with the specific attemperation control problems and plant instrumentation limitations, are presented and the experimental results analyzed in comparison with those obtained by the existing PID-based system. The STO improved significantly the control precision and the stability of the steam temperature and confirmed adaptive predictive control as a reliable self-tuning methodology for this kind of process. Copyright
This paper presents a new pitch angle adaptive control design based on the pitch rate following of a desired trajectory that ensures closed loop satisfactory performance. The pitch rate is under adaptive predictive (AP) control, as previously seen in the literature, but its desired trajectory is produced by a guidance block within a global guidance system structure that ensures automatic pitch angle closed loop performance. Additionally, the guidance block presented in this paper allows satisfactory operation of the automatic pilot in a range of high control frequencies suitable for this kind of application, overcoming stability problems that may arise within these high frequencies by direct application of a pitch angle AP controller. Experimental results obtained by flying a simulated aircraft illustrate comparatively the guidance system performance, and show the robustness of the new design with aerodynamic disturbances.
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