Model-based control of a blast furnace stove rig

Smooth and efficient operation of an industrial blast furnace requires the constant delivery of hot blast air from blast furnace stoves. The blast air must be supplied with temperature and flow as close as possible to set-points, without oscillation, and in a thermally efficient manner. The short-term control problem of a laboratory-scale blast furnace stove system has been successfully addressed using a model-based control technique. Superior blast air delivery has been obtained with generic model control (GMC) compared to traditional proportional-integral-derivative control. Non-linear and time-varying process behaviour have been easily accommodated using the GMC technique