Asymptotic set-point regulation for a large class of non-linear hydraulic networks

This work considers an industrial case study which is centred in a large-scale hydraulic network underlying a district heating system. We propose a set of decentralised proportional-integral control actions which attain asymptotic set-point regulation. The result is an extension of previous results on branched district heating networks to also include a class of looped district heating networks. The decentralised control architecture along with global asymptotic stability of the closed loop equilibrium point means that infrequent changes in network topology such as addition/removal of end-users can easily be commissioned without jeopardising the stability properties of the resulting closed loop system. Thus the decentralised control architecture is capable of plug-and-play commissioning. (C) 2017, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.