OPTIMAL-CONTROL OF A CONVECTIVE-DIFFUSIVE FLUID PROBLEM

We consider optimal control of a parabolic differential equation, mode ling one-dimensional fluid flow through a soil-packed tube in which a contaminant is initially distributed. A fluid is pumped through the tu be to remove the contaminant. The convective velocity due to the fluid pumping is the nonlinear control action. The goal is to minimize a pe rformance criterion which is a combination of the total contaminant at the final time and the cost of the control. The optimal control is ch aracterized by an optimality system.