Optimal actuator placement and model reduction for a class of parabolic partial differential equations using spatial H₂ norm

The present work focuses on the optimal, with respect to certain criteria, placement of control actuators for transport-reaction processes, mathematically modelled by linear parabolic partial differential equations. Using model decomposition to discretize the spatial coordinate, and the notions of spatial and modal controllability, the semi-infinite optimization problem is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem in appropriate L₂ spaces. The formulated problem is subsequently solved using standard search algorithms. The proposed method is successfully applied to a representative process, modelled by a one-dimensional parabolic PDE, where the optimal location of a single point actuator is computed.