A Review on Simulation Platforms for Complex Industrial Process

The complex industrial process is consisted of multiple loops with coupling relation. They have the characteristics of strong nonlinearity and non-stationary. So it is difficult to describe them with precise mathematical models. Thus, the design of control systems about complex industrial process mainly relies on repeated experiments and debugging on the actual system. Moreover, the novel operational optimization control algorithms cannot directly applied to the operation of industrial processes in terms of factors like safety requirement and economic cost. Therefore, it is necessary to build simulation platforms of complex industrial process to solve these issues. In order to construct an effective simulation platform, a review on different simulation platforms is made in this paper. The existing simulation platforms for industrial process are divided into four categories. They are real control system and real controlled object, real control system and virtual controlled object, virtual control system and real controlled object and virtual control system and virtual controlled object. Then, their structure and application background are analyzed in detail. The existing problems are also summarized. Finally, the conclusion and prospect of simulation platforms for industrial process are given out.