Robust control of a steam turbine power based on a precise nonlinear model

Abstract

In this paper, a precise and nonlinear model is developed for Nekka power plant turbine from its experimental data and documents. It is proposed to use boiler-turbine coordinated control system to increase effective efficiency of the steam unit. Identification procedures have been performed to obtain continuous time models of Nekka steam turbine at various loads. After determining the upper bound for uncertainty and choosing a good performance weighting function, a robust controller has been designed and implemented in closed loop for the turbine nonlinear model. Since the closed loop performance was not as required, a cascade controller structure is proposed, in which the turbine loop is closed by a PI controller in order to significantly reduce the uncertainty. Simulation results demonstrate the suitable performance of the closed loop in terms of tracking, speed of response, and damping of oscillations.