Experimental Study Of Distributed Control For Heat Transfer Processes VINATORU Matei, VINATORU Corneliu, IANCU Eugen Automation and Mechatronics Department University of Craiova 13, A.I. Cuza str., DOLJ , RO 200678 ROMANIA vinatoru@auto http://www.automation.ucv.ro Abstract: - Using a given mathematical model, a distributed parameters state observer has been implemented experimentally to reconstruct transient temperature profiles of the aluminium slab during heating and cooling. The observer was used to implement a state feedback controller. The studies had in view the time response of the controller, the control error and the form of distributed control. It is also presented an algorithm for model reference adaptive control for distributed parameters system with a command spatially distributed. The algorithm and control structure are verified on an experimental installation that permits the study of the heat transfer processes, realising a certain temperature profile along an aluminium slab.This is a sample of the format of your full paper. Key-Words: - Distributed parameters control systems, adaptive control, Applications: Process Control 1 Introduction Most of heat transfer processes in industry may be described as distributed parameter systems since the heat transfer varies not only in time but also along a spatial coordinate. Most of control systems for heat transfer processes today are approximating this type of processes as lumped parameter systems, in order to be able to apply well established control laws and algorithms, though a distributed control system may be better suitable for the control. Some applications of distributed parameters control theory have been given by Ray (1977, 1981), Lausterer and Ray (1979) and after this a lot of reported applications were developed, but most of them were purely theoretical since the computational power involved exceeded the computer power of those times. The evolution of numerical control methods and computer equipment allows today the implementation of distributed control algorithms for distributed parameters systems. There are a lot of heat transfer applications in industry that may benefit from the use of distributed control, such as rubber curing processes or steel milling processes, where the heat transfer process takes place along a spatial coordinate. In these applications where the command is a spatially distributed function, there are necessary adequate control structures, which can assure a rigorous control of process variables both as time and space variations. In this paper are presented some algorithms for distributed control for a distributed parameter system. The first algorithm is using a distributed parameter observer, presented by Vinatoru (2001) to implement a feedback controller using estimated state of the process. The second algorithm is using a reference model adaptive control. A 1 A 2 A 1 A 9 CONTROL BOARD - COMPUTER B1 B2 B9 B1 A/D ACQUISITION BOARD T T T T T Cooling holes Heating lamps 220 V Fig. 1. Experimental installation Proceedings of the 3rd WSEAS/IASME International Conference on Dynamical Systems and Control, Arcachon, France, October 13-15, 2007 253