Generalized Predictive Control Applied to the PT326 Process Trainer

This article presents the comparison between a generalized predictive control law for the temperature control of a PT326 process trainer and a PID control with auto-tuning using MATLAB. The generalized predictive control law allows considering restrictions and the control of non-linear plants with slight delays. In the PT326 system, the temperature control is affected due to the length of the tube and the speed of air propagation which causes a delay in the response of the system. The GPC algorithm has less overshoot and is capable of reaching the reference in 8 seconds, while the PID control takes around 15 seconds.