Resumo

GOMEZ, ALEJANDRA  e  CORREA, RODRIGO. IMPLEMENTATION OF A MULTIVARIABLE PREDICTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM IN A FIRED HEATER. Dyna rev.fac.nac.minas [online]. 2009, vol.76, n.157, pp. 195-203. ISSN 0012-7353.

This article describes the application of the control strategy, the model predictive control (MPC) on oil pre-heater. It was designed and tuning using information acquired from a rigorous simulation of an existing plant. It was found that the MPC strategy improves the heater performance. From the simulations it was observed that the controlled variables were within the operational limits. The implementation of MPC increased also the heater efficiency, its operation was more stable, it was possible to increase the amount of oil heated, and the mean life time of the tubes was longer.

Palavras-chave : Model predictive control; fired heaters; dynamic simulation.