Plantwide Control of Modern Chemical Processes from a Network Perspective

To achieve high economical efficiency, modern chemical plants are becoming increasingly complex, to an extent that cannot be effectively managed by existing process modelling and control techniques. By exploring the physical fundamentals in thermodynamics and their connections to control theory, this project aims to develop a new modelling and control approach that can be applied to complicated nonlinear processes. In this approach, processes over the entire plant are analysed and controlled from a network perspective using the dissipativity control theory. The outcomes of this project will form the cornerstones of a new process control paradigm that offers more robust and reliable process operation at any scale.