Override and Model Predictive Control of Particle Size and Feed Rate in Grinding Process

A new grinding control strategy based on override control (ORC) and model predictive control (MPC) is presented to control product particle size and feed rate in grinding process. ORC is employed to avoid mill overloading and to optimize fresh ore feed rate. MPC is adopted for its outstanding features in dealing with large time delay and the constraints imposed on process variables. The proposed control strategy not only ensures a long-term stableness of particle size, but also optimize the fresh ore feed rate. More than half a year's industrial application demonstrates the control strategy's practicality, reliability, and convenience for on-line implementation.