2009 International Conference on Test and Measurement
Multi-Model Based IMC Design for
Steam Temperature System of Thermal
Power Plant
Dongfeng WANG, Zijie WANG, Li MENG, Pu HAN
Department of Automation
North China Electric Power University
Baoding, China
wangdongfeng@ncepubd .edu.cn
Abstract-IMC-PID(Internal Model Control-Proportional
plus Integral plus Derivative) cascade control strategy is
presented based on multiple models control theory, which keeps
the merit of cascade control system as well as multiple models
control. Fixed parameters PID control is used in inner loop in
order to eliminate disturbances, then the inner loop and main
inertia plant are regarded as the generalized object to be
controlled by IMC method. FOPDT (First Order Plus Dead
Time) model is used to describe the internal models for IMC,
this avoids the problem of realization of a high order controller.
The method of scheduling among the local models is according
to power load that is the primary factor. Smoothiing switch is
realized by using fuzzy weighting function. The simulation
results demonstrate that the strategy proposed is well suited to
nonlinear multi-model and time-various systems such as
superheated steam temperatureplant.
Index Terms-Multi-model control; Internal model control;
Superheated steam temperature system; Cascadecontrol
I. INTRODUCTION
Influenced by load fluctuation and the variation of
operating conditions, the performance of controlled plant
sometimes changes greatly, and shows complex dynamic
characteristics. In such cases, traditional single-mode
control can not present a satisfied performance[8]. One
example is superheated steam temperature system of
thermal power plant. As one of the most important factors in
power unit, superheated steam temperature has great
influence on the security and efficiency of a power plant. It
is a nonlinear object with distributed parameter and large
time delay, and its dynamic properties change greatly
especially with the fluctuation of unit load. As a system with
many disturbances, usually a cascade control strategy of
PID-PID is taken. But as presented above, it is also a
nonlinear time-variant system, which makes great
temperature deviation can't be eliminated by usual strategy
[8], especially in a tuned unit whose load changes frequently.
In such circumstances, traditional robust control strategy is
too conserved, while general adaptive control neglects
useful information, and its computation is too complex to
meet the real time requirement [9].
Multiple model method is an effective way in solving
the problem of dynamic changes in complex nonlinear
systems [10]. While Internal Model Control (IMC) as a
novel control strategy [11], it has strong robustness and less
restrict to model accuracy. As a strategy generated from
field practice, not only its design and online computation is
978-1-4244-4700-8/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE
5
easy to perform, but it also has a good tracking capability,
and unknown disturbances can be well eliminated. It shows
a good performance in its adaptation to the uncertainty of
process itself as well as environment around. It is very
suitable to be used in practice.
In view of the time variant of superheated steam
temperature system, Multiple Internal Model Control
(MIMC) strategy is presented in this paper. The simulation
demonstrates a satisfied effect even the operating point
changing largely.
II. PRINCIPLE OF INTERNALMODEL CONTROL
Internal model control[l] was first proposed by Garcia
and Morari in 1982. Its structure is shown as Fig. 1.
In the Fig. I, Gp(s) is controlled plant, Ge(s) is controller,
and F(s) is filter, while R(s) and D(s) are set-point and
disturbance signal respectively.
Here, internal model Gm(s) is introduced, which makes
the feedback information changed from output to
disturbance estimator. When the control plant can't be
described precisely, the mismatching information will be
included in disturbance estimator signal, which will benefit
greatly for system robustness.
There are three basic properties of an ideal IMC system
[11]:
Dual stability. When the internal model and controlled
plant matched each other, the system can be regarded as an
open-loop system. If only the controlled object is open-loop
steady as well as the controller is stabilized, the closed-loop
system would be steady.
Ideal controller. As to a steady plant, supposing the
corresponding model Gm(s) is precise, choose the controller
GcCs)=Gml(s), then an error-free tracking system is realized,
and the deviation caused by disturbance signals will be
eliminated.
Non-deviation property on steady state. Suppose the
closed-loop system is steady, if only Ge(O)= GmI(O) (where
Gm(O) and Ge(O) are static gains of model and its
corresponding controller), there would be no deviation to
step input or constant disturbance.
D (s)
R( s ) + Y(s)
Figurel . Structure of internal model control system
ICTM2009
 Different from conventional control methods, the most
significant merit of IMC is the separation of some control
issues, such as servo problem, robustness, and disturbance
rejecting ability , etc., which greatly simplified the process of
controller design, analysis and adjustment. Compared with
conventional PIO controller, it is especially suited in
nonlinear system with large time delay.
Just like PIO, IMC theory also has some properties
guaranteeing its suitableness in practice. First of all, the
IMC structure is simple and easy to design . Secondly, there
are only a few parameters to be settled, and all of them have
distinct physical meaning, which makes the debugging
process easy and simple. As a result, IMC method has been
regarded as an effective control strategy and a profitable
complement to general PIO control.
III. MULTIPLE INTERNAL MODEL CONTROL
A. Multiple Models Establishment
Multiple Model is proved to be an effective way in
solving the problem of complex industrial control in
nonlinear process with time uncertainty [15,18].
In 1969, Bates and Granger improved the accuracy and
robustness of predictive model by the composing of multiple
models [2]. In 1976, a theory of multiple model control was
proposed by Lainiotis[3], which aims to solve the control
problems in system of uncertain parameters. Multiple model
control with stability has been given much attention from
1980s. And the thought of multiple models are inducted into
many control fields, which forms lots of effective control
strategy, such as Multi-Model Adaptive Control[4]
CNarendra et al, 1995 ) , Multi-Model Fuzzy Control[5]
(Murry-Smith, Johansen,1997), Multi-Model Predictive
Control[12] (Xi et al,1996), etc.. Most of these methods
have proved to have a good effect in practice.
The modeling process of multi-model can be expressed
as follows[13] :
1) Choose the variables of balance point. Typical
selection is input, output or state variables.
2) Divide the whole workspace into N operating
subspaces.
3) Establish multiple local models respectively in
subspaces.
4) Combine local models into a nonlinear global model
through weighting function .
Where parameter N should be settled properly according
to the plant's nonlinearity. A greater N may result in a
complex system design , but if it is too small, the model will
be too simple to describe the whole process fully and
exactly .
Name the whole workspace as r , while its subspaces as
r li=I ,2,... ,N), then
r = r I U r 2 Ur N, (1)
r t n r j = Q>, i::;t:j. (2)
The local transfer function is
Yj(s)=Gls)U(s). (3)
Where, G;(s) is local model. It can be obtained by the
identification in subspaces or the linearization on the ith
operating point. Yj(s) is the corresponding output of model
Gls).
The global workspace may be divided from different
aspects, such as physical property, practical phenomenon,
running target , basic operator, operating conditions, and so
on. The most frequently used partition principle is operating
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condition, whose definition may vary in different
phenomenon or system performance. In this paper,
operating condition principle based on load interval changes
is used to separate the whole workspace.
The scheduling method of multiple local models is also
various in many ways. It can be hard or soft switching. The
soft switching can be fuzzy weighted switching or
probability weighted switching, etc. In this paper, a fuzzy
weighted function is used. The available range of local
model are determined by fuzzy membership a,(v), where,
N
La;(v) = 1, a;(v) E [0,1]
; =1 (4)
The global model can be expressed as
N
Y(s) = La;l-:(s) = G(y)U(s)
;=1 (5)
Where , a = (a l ' a 2" " , a N) ,
N
G(y) = La;G;(s)
;=1 (6)
B. Multiple Internal Model Control
Central idea of multiple model control is the
workspace's division and subspaces' combination. In order
to make compensation for parameter fluctuation and system
nonlinearity in nonlinear and time-variant plant, the whole
workspace is divided into several parts, after that, local
models in different subspaces are identified , and their
corresponding controllers are also designed. Each local
model- controller pair makes a good control performance in
its own subspace. The multiple control system is the
combination of all model-controller pairs. A switching
mechanism is designed for their scheduling.
The structure of multiple internal model control system
is shown in Fig. 2. Where Gc;(s) is the controller designed
for local model Gis), parameter N is the number of local
subspaces, and multiple internal model control output U is
the combination of local controller's output Uj, while j{u) is
the switching function for their dispatching.
In this paper, internal model control method is used in
the local controller's designing. Based on the theory of
multiple internal model control , local internal model
controller Gcis) are designed. By using weighting function
j{u), the outputs of local controllers are combined together.
Thus the multiple internal model control system design is
fmished . In the following sections, a soft switching function
based on fuzzy weighting method is used, which can be
expressed as:
L:ajYm
j
N
g(D) =
j =l
(7)
Figure 2. Diagram of Multiple IMC System
 N The membership function of different subspace models
f(O) = Laju j
j=l (8)
In which Ymj is the output of its corresponding local
model Gis) (j=1,2, . .. ,N); Uj is the output of its
corresponding local internal model controller GC](s)
(j=1,2, ... ,N); alj=I,2, ... ,N) is the corresponding
membership function .
IV. DESIGN OF MULTIPLE INTERNAL MODEL CONTROL
FOR SUPERHEATED STEAM TEMPERATURE SYSTEM
A. Characteristics ofSuperheated Steam Temperature
System
As one of the most important factors in power unit,
superheated steam temperature has great influence on the
security and efficiency of a power plant. The temperature
system is a nonlinear object with distributed parameters and
large time delay . Lots of pipes used in the system make it a
large time delay object, and load fluctuation makes its
dynamic performance change severely especially in a tuned
unit. General cascade control can't make a satisfied control
performance[8].
Some principal factors influence this temperature system
greatly, such as steam temperature, steam pressure and
steam flow quantity, etc. Among these factors , the influence
of steam flow quantity is the most obvious[ 14]. When there
is a load rising, the flow quantity and flow rate increase,
which makes a decrease for static gain, time constant and
time delay, thus influences its dynamic performance greatly.
The super-heated steam temperature system of a 600 MW
straight through boiler described in literature [14] is a good
example.
By the description of multiple model method and its
corresponding controller's design , a more precise model and
a much more suitable controller will be realized.
B. Multiple Model Control Strategy for Superheated
Steam Temperature System
Since the temperature system 's performance changes
with unit load, multiple model description based on the unit
load changes is used in this paper.
By the identification of local objects, different five
models with high-order are obtained [6] as shown in
TABLE 1.
TABLE 1. HIGH-ORDER MODEL OF SUPERHEATER
Load Dynamic Transfer Function
% W2(s) W1(s)
30 8.07/(24s+ 1)2 1.48/(46.6s+ 1 t has already been used to describe boiler-turbine's
44 6.62/(21s+1)2 1.66/(39.5s+ It
62 4.35 /(19s+ 1/ 1.83/(28.2s+ 1t
88 2.0 1/(16s+ 1/ 2.09/(22.3s+1t
100 1.58/(14s+ 1/ 2.45 /(15.8s+ 1 t existed local models shown in TABLEI .
a in inner loop, whose parameters are settled as: Kp= 1.1,
30% 44 % 62% 88% 100 % v Tms=32 , Tdms=42. Filter parameter of the IMC is chosen as
Figure 3. Membership function of subspaces for super-
heated steam temperature system
7
for fuzzy soft switching is shown in Fig. 3.
Where , v is unit load, and a(v) is local model-
controller's membership function.
Superheated steam temperature system is a object with a
number of interference, while cascade control structure can
benefit for the disturbance elimination. In this paper, an
IMC-PIO cascade control system is designed.
Among this control system , PIO controller is used in
inner loop, in order to eliminate interference quickly . The
outer loop used the strategy of multiple inner model control,
which can not only adapt to the changes of operating
condition, but also compensate time delay.
The multiple internal model control system structure is
given in Fig. 4. The generalized object ofIMC is also shown
in the Fig.. Multiple models at different operating point are
modeled when the inner loop is closed . The models are
described by first order plus dead time, as shown as follows :
K . - TdmjS - 1
- -mJ
-e J- '" 5
Tmjs + 1 ' " (9)
Their corresponding internal model controllers [11] are
designed as:
Tmjs + 1 1 .
- _. - J=I .. 5
TIS + 1 K mj ' " (10)
Where , Tr is introduced filter coefficient according to
internal model control design theory .
Final output of the whole internal model is:
N
Ym = L> jYmj' N=5
j=l (11)
And output of multiple local controllers is
N
U=La ju j, N=5
j=l (12)
Where , Ymj and Uj are outputs of the local model Gmj and
its corresponding local controller Gej Weighting coefficient
aj is membership function shown in Fig. 3.
C. Simulation Results
According to the properties of superheated steam
temperature system, its dynamic property changes with unit
load, which means model parameters change. This change
isn't strictly in linear, but it can be simplified as linear
variation, i.e. the parameters can be simplified as linear
function of unit load, and the error caused by this
assumption is slight and acceptable to both simulation
research and real practice[14]. This approximation method
performance in literature [16] and [17].
Based on this assumption, the transfer function at any
operating point can be described as linear interpolation of
As shown in Fig. 4, Proportional-Integral control is used
K j=0 .04. As shown in (9), by the identification method
proposed in literature [7], simplified generalized local
models are obtained, whose parameters are: Kml=1.48,
Tml=105 , Tdml =93; Km2=1.66 , Tm2=85 , Tdm2=75 ; K m3=1.83 ,
Tm3=60 , Tdm3=56; Km4=2 .09, Tm4=49 , Tdm4=48 ; K ms=2.45,
TF40 . Simulation results are given in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6. In
these two Figures, after 5 minutes' simulation, there is a step
response of 5C steam temperature increment with a stable
unit load. From the time 20 minute, change unit load with
the speed of 3%/min, and Fig. 5 is the simulation result
when there is load rising, while Fig. 6 is the result with load
down. After 40 minutes simulation, 5% measure disturbance
is added to the output.
V. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a multiple internal model control strategy
is proposed. An IMC-PID cascade control system based on
multiple model theory is designed for a steam temperature
system of thermal plant. In order to eliminate disturbance
quickly, PID controller is used in inner loop, while outer
loop take multiple internal model control method, which can
not only adapt to the operating point changes, but also
compensate the time-delay of the controlled object. As to
internal models in IMC structure, they are obtained from the
simplified identification of generalized object. By the fuzzy
weighting combination of multiple internal models and
multiple controllers, smooth switching is realized. The
simulation results show that the strategy proposed in the
paper can successfully solve the problem of nonlinearity,
time-variant, big inertia and large time delay that exist in the
super-heater steam temperature system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was supported by the Scientific Research
Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars,
North China Electric Power University (Grant No.
200814002)
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Genera lized Object

r- ---------------;0====='-1-------------------------

K ml

>t
e-1dmls
Tmls + I
Controller +
-

r
aj
i; .e-ldn1}S Ym
r ,<y
r
Tnys + I

KmN e- 7dmN~
TmNs+ 1 Internal Mode l

Figure 4. Diagram of Multi-model IMC-PID Control for Superheated Steam Temperature System

8
100
o~
::a<1l
o
...J

c
~
60 f - - - - ----/

o 10 20 30 40 t/min 0 10 20 30 40 t/min
(a) Load Rising (b) Curves of Temperature Response
Figure 5.Curves of Response with Load Rising

100 f-----~
545
o~
::a<1l p

\
o -.. Set point
...J >.
c Output
~
60

o 10 20 30 40 t/min 0 10 20 30 40 t/m in
(a) Load Downing (b) Curves of Temperature Response
Figure 6.Curves of Response with Load Down