Stepwise commissioning of a steam boiler with stability guarantees

This paper aims to make the commissioning of an industrial MIMO controller more straightforward by gradually commissioning it from a set of SISO controllers, after the system has been started. For this purpose a stepwise commissioning strategy based on the Youla-Kucera parametrization has been developed. It allows for the gradual transition between any two controllers amongst a set of stabilizing controllers in a controlled manner while guaranteeing nominal stability. The method only requires a plant model and any additional stable and stabilizing controller. A MISO controller has successfully been commissioned from a SISO controller using the developed method on a real steam boiler and measurements show a clear performance improvement after transition.