Adaptive predictive control of time-delay systems

Design of an optimal controller for higher-order or time-delay systems often leads to complex control algorithms. One of the possibilities of control of such processes is their approximation by a lower-order model with a time-delay (dead time). These time-delay processes can be effectively handled by the Model-based Predictive Control (MPC) method. The paper deals with design of an algorithm for adaptive predictive control of higher-order processes, which are approximated by a second-order model of the process with a time-delay. Most processes in industrial practice are characterized by nonlinear behavior and contain uncertainties. The adaptive control strategy is one of the possible approaches to optimal control of such systems. The proposed adaptive predictive controller for control of the time-delay system was tested and verified by simulation of a model of a laboratory heat exchanger which was obtained from measured experimental data.