Nonlinear control oriented boiler modeling-a benchmark problem for controller design

This paper presents the development of a control oriented boiler model carried out on the basis of fundamental physical laws, previous efforts in boiler modeling, known physical constants, plant data, and heuristic adjustments. The resulting fairly accurate model is nonlinear, fourth order, and includes inverse response (shrink and swell effects), time delays, measurement noise models, and a load disturbance component. The model obtained can be directly used for the synthesis of model-based control algorithms as well as setting up a real-time simulator for testing of new boiler control systems and operator training.