Boundary control for stabilization of slugging oscillations

The problem of suppressing the slugging phenomenon is investigated. Industrial oil facilities such as gas-lifted wells and offshore production oil-risers are examples of systems where occurs such phenomenon. To study this problem, we consider that these systems are written as a set of 3 x 3 hyperbolic partial differential equations of balance laws, where the control variable appears at the boundary condition. By means of the characteristic coordinates approach, we deduce the stabilizing control law. The exponential stability of the equilibrium is proved by means of a Lyapunov stability analysis. Through simulation results, the method is shown effective in stabilizing the slugging phenomenon.