Passivity based modelling and simulation of a nonlinear process control

system
A.Mu noz, M. Loccuer and E. Noldus
Department of Electrical Energy, Systems and Automation, Ghent University
Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 9, B-9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium
Tel.: 32 9 2645578; Fax: 32 9 2645839
Email: noldus@autoctrl.rug.ac.be
Abstract
The stabilization of a chemical stirred tank
reactor is investigated. Stabilization is
achieved using linear dynamic output feed-
back control, in particular PD control. Con-
ditions are derived under which the closed
loop can be modelled as a feedback inter-
connection of passive components, which al-
lows the design of a simple and robust glob-
ally stabilizing feedback law. The control pa-
rameters are tuned using simulations of the
closed loop transients and phase portraits.
Besides passivity theory the underlying mod-
elling technique uses concepts from dissipa-
tive systems and from the direct method of
Liapunov.
Key words : Mathematical modelling, sim-
ulation, process control, passivity theory
1 Introduction
The stabilization of a nonlinear process
which describes the dynamical behaviour of
a stirred tank chemical reactor is investi-
gated. The systems equations contain a
product type nonlinearity in which one fac-
tor depends linearly and the other factor de-
pends exponentially on the state variables.
Depending on the process parameter values
there may exist either one or three open loop
equilibrium points. The paper mainly deals
with the analysis of a single feedback loop
where the state variables are fed back to the
reactor feed temperature as the only input,
using a PD-control algorithm. Multivariable
control loops which, in addition, use feed
concentration as an input and which apply
a PID or a more complex controller struc-
ture are also briey discussed. Using well
established principles from passivity theory
sucient conditions are derived under which
the closed loop can be modelled as a feed-
back interconnection of passive components,
yielding a globally stable control system. Al-
though, at least in the multivariable case,
linearizing state feedback laws could be ob-
tained we shall not try to compensate the
complex nonlinearities of the controlled pro-
cess. Instead, exploiting the special struc-
ture of these nonlinearities, simple linear
control laws will be synthesized which glob-
ally stabilize the selected set point. More-
over the technique of modelling the closed
loop as an interconnection of passive sub-
systems allows a design with good robust-
ness properties. An interpretation of the
obtained stability criteria in terms of dis-
sipativity and Liapunov theory is included.
The controller parameters are determined for
some process examples, using simulations of
transients and of the open and closed loops
phase portraits. We conclude with an out-
line of possible future work on this subject.
2 Process and controller dynamics
In reduced form the heat and mass balance
equations of a stirred tank reactor for a sin-
gle chemical reaction [4] can be written as :
z = Az + k bf(c

z)g

z + Du (1)
where
z

=

z
1
z
2

, A

=

(1 + s) 0
0 1

,
k

=

r
1

, b

=

m
2
m
1

, c

=

1
0

,
g

=

0
1

, D

=

1 0
0 1

, u

=

u
1
u
2

and f(y)

= exp(10
4
/y). Time has been
rescaled as

= t/(
V
F
) . Here
z
1

=
RT
E
10
4
, z
2

=
c
c
0
, s

=
U
Fc
p
,
r

= 10
4
R
E

T
0
+
UT
k
Fc
p

, m
1

=
V k
0
F
,
m
2

= 10
4
(H)V k
0
c
0
R
Fc
p
E
The state variables are proportional to re-
actor temperature T and reactor concentra-
tion c. The inputs u
1

= 10
4 R
E
T
0
(t) and
u
2

=
1
c
0
c
0
(t) are scaled increments of feed
temperature with nominal value T
0
(or even-
tually cooling temperature, with nominal
value T
k
) and possibly feed concentration
with nominal value c
0
. The model param-
eters are the heat capacity per unit of vol-
ume c
p
, the specic mass , the molar re-
action heat H, the heat transfer coe-
cient U, the reaction speed per unit of vol-
ume k
0
c exp(E/RT) and the reactor vessel
time constant V/F. Corresponding to u = 0
there can be either one or three equilibrium
states [1]. One of these, say z
s
is the set
point. Redening the state as a deviation
variable x

= z z
s
brings (1) in the form :
x = Ax b [f
1
(c

x) + f
2
(c

x)g

x] + Du (2)
with x

=

x
1
x
2

, f
1
(y)

= [f(y + c

z
s
)
f(c

z
s
)] g

z
s
and f
2
(y)

= f(y + c

z
s
). A
possible procedure to stabilize a system of
the form (2) reads as follows. First con-
sider the case of a single feedback loop with
u
2
(t) 0, hence Du = du
1
; d

=

1
0

.
Then (2) implies that
m
1
x
1
+ m
2
x
2
= m
1
(1 + s)x
1
m
2
x
2
+ m
1
u
1
(3)
Choose u
1
such that in closed loop
m
2
g

x = c

x + c

x or
m
2
x
2
= x
1
+ x
1
(4)
This is realized using a PD-controller
u
1
=

1 + s +

m
1

x
1
+

1 +

m
1

x
1
+
m
2
m
1
x
2
(5)
Combining (4) with the second equation of
(2) then produces the closed loop dynamics :
x = A
0
x b
0

f
1
(c

x) +

f
2
(c

x)c

(6)
where A
0

m
2

0 1

, b
0

0
1

f
1
(y)

= m
1
z
2s
[f(y + z
1s
) f(z
1s
)]
+
m
1

m
2
yf(y + z
1s
),

f
2
(y)

=
m
1

m
2
f(y + z
1s
)
Below sucient conditions are derived for
the global asymptotic stability of the set
point x = 0 of the system (6).
3 Closed loop stability analysis
Let
H(s)

=c

(sI A
0
)
1
b
0
=
m
2
(s + )(s + 1)
(7)
Then the system (6) can be represented by
the block diagram of Figure 1 which, for any

0
0 is equivalent to the diagram of Fig-
ure 2. Note that (A
0
, b
0
, c) is a controllable
and observable triple. Now it is readily ver-
ied that (1 +
0
s)H(s) is strictly positive
real, i.e. A
0
is Hurwitz,
Re(1 +
0
j)H(j) > 0 ; R (8)
and
lim

2
Re(1 +
0
j)H(j) > 0 (9)
[3] if > 0, > 0 and
0
is selected such
that
0
> /(+). Hence the forward path
in the feedback loop of Figure 2 is strictly
passive. The feedback path is a parallel con-
nection of two passive components if
y

f
1
(y) > 0 ; y R, y = 0 (10)
and

f
2
(y) > 0 ; y R (11)
PSfrag replacements

+
H(s)

f
1
(.)
s

f
2
(.)
y = c

x
y

f
2
(y)
y

f
2
(y)

f
1
(y)
(1 +
0
s)G(s)
Figure 1: Block diagram of the system (6).
Dotted lines indicate the extension to sys-
tems with higher order controllers (17), (18).
PSfrag replacements

+
(1 +
0
s)H(s)
1
1+
0
s

f
1
(.)
y
v
w
1
w
2
s

f
2
(.)
v
G(s)
Figure 2: Transformation of the diagram of
Figure 1.
Indeed, for every input y(t) = v(t) +
0
v(t)
applied to these components at t = 0,

+
0
w
1
(t)y(t)dt =

+
0

f
1
(v)(v +
0
v)dt 0 (12)

+
0
w
2
(t)y(t)dt =

+
0

f
2
(v) v(v +
0
v)dt 0 (13)
The global asymptotic stability of the closed
loop then results from standard passivity
theory [3]. Note that in the chemical reactor
model

f
1
(y) and

f
2
(y) satisfy the conditions
(10), (11). Alternatively the global asymp-
totic stability of the equilibrium state x = 0
in state space can be veried using a candi-
date Liapunov function of the form :
V (x)

= x

Px +
0

x
0

f
1
()d
+

x
0

f
2
()d (14)
Standard manipulations and an application
of the Popov-Kalman-Yacubovich lemma re-
veals that the derivative of V (x) along the
solutions of (6) can be written as :

V (x) = x

Px + x

P x +
0

f
1
(c

x)c

x
+

f
2
(c

x)c

xc

x
= x

(PA
0
+ A

0
P)x x

(2Pb
0
A

0
c
0
)

f
1
(c

x) +

f
2
(c

x)c

0

f
2
(c

x)(c

x)
2
+

f
2
(c

x)c

xc

x
= (q

x)
2
c

x

f
1
(c

x)

0

f
2
(c

x)(c

x)
2
x

x (15)
where > 0 while P R
22
and q R
2
satisfy an algebraic Riccati equation with
P symmetric and positive denite, provided
Popovs frequency condition (8), (9) is sat-
ised. It follows that in state space V (x)
is positive denite and radially unbounded
with a negative denite derivative. Hence
x = 0 is globally asymptotically stable in
the sense of Liapunov.
As a conclusion every PD-controller of the
form (5) globally stabilizes the systems set
point if the design parameters and
are chosen positive. Taking and su-
ciently large endows the controller with good
robustness properties since then the ratio
m
2
m
1
= 10
4
(H)c
0
R/c
p
E is the only model
parameter that must be accurately known.
4 Higher order controllers
When both u
1
and u
2
are used as control
inputs, the feedback law (5) is replaced by :
m
1
u
1
+ m
2
u
2
= [m
1
(1 + s) + ]x
1
+(m
1
+ ) x
1
+ m
2
x
2
(16)
which modies (6) to :
x = A
0
xb
0

f
1
(c

x) +

f
2
(c

x)c

x u
2

(17)
(15) becomes

V (x) = (q

x)
2
c

x

f
1
(c

x)

0

f
2
(c

x)(c

x)
2
x

x + u
2
w
where w = c

x +
0
c

A
0
x = c

x +
0
c

x.
Hence under the conditions (8)(11) the
system (17) is dissipative with storage func-
tion V (x) and supply rate u
2
w. Let
u
2
(s) = G(s)w(s) = G(s)(1+
0
s)y(s)(18)
where y

= c

x = x
1
. This introduces a
third parallel feedback path in the block di-
agram of Figure 1 with transfer function
(1+
0
s)G(s). The corresponding additional
path in Figure 2 contains a component with
transfer function G(s) which is passive if
G(s) is positive real. It follows that (16),
(18) globally stabilizes the stirred tank reac-
tor system if > 0, > 0,
0
> /( + )
and G(s) is positive real. The special case
G(s) =
0
/s;
0
> 0, yields :
u
2
(t) =
0

t
0
x
1
()d +
0
x
1

(19)
which, together with (16) constitutes a glob-
ally stabilizing PID-controller.
Figure 3: Phase portrait of an uncontrolled
reactor (Example 1) with parameter val-
ues m
1
= 1.7685e
15
, m
2
= 7.8041e
16
,
r = 301.2696, s = 0.1356; z
s
=
(285.3567, 0.4837).
5 Control parameter tuning
The PD-controller parameters and have
been tuned for two reactor examples [2], [1].
In each case the uncontrolled reactor pos-
sesses three equilibrium points : a stable
node z
n
, a saddle point z
s
and a stable focus
z
f
. In process control practice the reaction
temperature is usually too high in z
f
while
conversion to the end product is too low in
z
n
. Hence z
s
is taken as the systems set
point. In closed loop z
s
is stabilized while
the equilibria z
f
and z
n
disappear. Fig-
ures 3 and 4 display the uncontrolled reac-
tors phase portraits. Some manipulations
show that the characteristic equation of the
linearized closed loop dynamics in z
s
can be
written as :
s
2
+ ( + b
0
)s + a
0
m
2
+ [s + 1 + b
0
] =0
or equivalently as :
s
2
+ (1 + b
0
)s+
1

[s + (1 + b
0
)+ a
0
m
2
] =0
where a
0

= 10
4
m
1
z
s2
z
2
s1
exp(10
4
/z
s1
) and
b
0

= m
1
exp (10
4
/z
s1
). This allows to
study the inuence of and on the eigen-
value spectrum of the linearized dynamics
using standard root locus techniques and to
examine the corresponding linearized and
Figure 4: Phase portrait of an uncontrolled
reactor (Example 2) with parameter values
m
1
= e
25
, m
2
= 200e
25
, r = 700, s = 1;
z
s
= (400, 0.5).
Figure 5: Closed loop phase portrait of the
reactor of Example 1; control parameters
= 1.08e
12
; = 2e
15
.
nonlinear transient behaviour. Generally
speaking low values for and produce
highly oscillatory responses while high val-
ues for tend to result in a nonoscillatory
but sluggish response. Satisfactory choices
for and and the corresponding closed
loop phase portraits have been displayed
in Figures 5 and 6 with some examples of
nonlinear transients in Figures 7 and 8.
For both examples transients have been
recorded from initial states on ellipses as
shown in Figure 6. Increasing the size of the
ellipse reveals that the response becomes
Figure 6: Closed loop phase portrait of the
reactor of Example 2; control parameters
= 9.44e
7
; = 1e
11
.
strongly nonlinear but remains qualitatively
satisfactory for initial states on ellipses with
|x
1
|
max
> 4; |x
2
|
max
> 0.15 in Example 1,
and |x
1
|
max
> 8; |x
2
|
max
> 0.2 in Example
2.
6 Conclusions
We have discussed the stabilization of a
stirred tank chemical reactor using passivity
based feedback loop modelling. PD-, PID-
and more complex controllers have been con-
sidered. The PD-controller has been tested
on two examples, using extensive simulation
of the open and closed loop dynamics. In fur-
ther work a similar analysis for higher order
controllers will be performed. Also, possi-
ble bounds on the admissible values of state
and control variables must be taken into ac-
count. The case must be considered where
the control law allows the existence of more
than one equilibrium point in closed loop.
Then the modelling technique must allow to
study the inuence of the control parame-
ters on the set points basin of attraction in
state space. This will require the use of a
Liapunov theory approach. Finally, dynam-
ical systems with product type nonlineari-
ties arise in many technical and nontechni-
cal elds : DC-controlled and other types
of bilinear systems, biological and ecological
systems, population dynamics, etc. These
constitute further potential applications of
the principles developed above.
(a)
(b)
Figure 7: Transient response of the con-
trolled reactor of Example 1, for initial val-
ues x
1
(0) = 8; x
2
(0) = 0 : (a) Reactor tem-
perature response; (b)Reactor concentration
response.
References
[1] Genesio, R., Tartaglia, M. and Vicino,
A. (1985) On the estimation of asymp-
totic stability regions : State of the art
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[2] Loccuer, M. and Noldus, E. (1994). A
combination of the direct method of Li-
apunov and simulation for the stability
analysis of chemical reactors. Journal A,
(a)
(b)
Figure 8: Transient response of the con-
trolled reactor of Example 2, for initial val-
ues x
1
(0) = 40; x
2
(0) = 0 : (a) Reactor
temperature response; (b) Reactor concen-
tration response.
35, 2, 36-41.
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