Traditional and advanced control of coal power plants: a comparative study

This paper presents some simulation results concerning the application of H2 control and model predictive control (MPC) to coal fuelled power plants. A detailed nonlinear model of a unit located in the north of Italy is used as test bench. The achieved results are compared to those provided by a standard coordinated control scheme, where some additional process measurements are used to enhance the disturbances rejection properties of the controller.