MODULAR MULTIVARIABLE CONTROL OF A FRACTIONATOR

MODULAR MULTIVARIABLE CONTROL (MMC) is used to solve the heavy oil fractionator problem proposed by Shell Oil. An MMC system is an interconnection of coordinated controllers which are multiple control effort, single process variable controllers. The MMC solution is compared with Shell's multivariable control solution for the test cases proposed by Shell Oil, as well as for setpoint changes. Comparisons include the quality of control, the ease of tuning, the ability to treat output constraints, coding complexity, computation load and the implications for control system implementation and maintenance.