Throughput and product quality control for a grinding mill circuit using non-linear MPC

A non-linear model-based control architecture for a single-stage grinding mill circuit closed with a hydro cyclone is proposed. The control architecture aims to achieve independent control of circuit throughput and product quality, and consists of a non-linear model predictive controller for grinding mill circuit control, and a dynamic inversion controller to control the fast sump dynamics. A particle filter is used to estimate the mill states, and an algebraic routine is used to estimate the sump states. The observers make use of real-time continuous measurements commonly available on industrial plants. Simulation results show that control objectives can be achieved by the controller despite the presence of measurement noise and disturbances. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved