Robust control structure selection and control system design methods applied to distillation column control

A number of robust control theories are brought together for the purpose of developing systematic methods for control structure selection and controller design. As a case study, a high-purity distillation column separating an ideal binary mixture is considered. It is demonstrated that the structured singular value theory provides a convenient framework for the development of a practical, systematic control structure selection method. The control structure selection method is applied to the sensor selection problem for the high-purity distillation column. In addition, robust control and optimization techniques are combined into a control technique that incorporates such practical aspects as constraint handling and actuator/sensor failure tolerance, as well as robustness.<>