Fractional-Order PID Control of a MIMO Distillation Column Process Using Improved Bat Algorithm

In this paper, a new bat algorithm (BA) based on dynamic control parameters selection is presented. The dynamic BA (DBA) uses a new mechanism to dynamically select the best performing combination of the pulse rate coefficient, the pulse frequency coefficient, and the population size. A fractional-order PID (FOPID) controller based on the DBA is implemented to improve the performance of a distillation column process. The proposed FOPID controller is used to control the distillate and bottom mole fractions. The influence of the feed rate disturbance is considered for this model. The efficacy of the DBA-based FOPID is compared with the performance of the controllers based on the conventional BA, directional BA, enhanced BA, genetic algorithm, and particle swarm optimization algorithm. The analyses and simulation results show the superiority of the proposed method.The research leading to these results has partially received funding from the HUMASOFT Project (lead by author Concepción A. Monje), with reference DPI2016-75330-P, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness