Model predictive control of an electric arc furnace off-gas process

This paper shows that an electric are furnace off-gas system can provide va luable manipulated variables for feedback control which can improve furnace efficiency and contribute to safety in the workplace. Model predictive con trol (MPC) is used to illustrate this concept using practically motivated c ontrol objectives. An initial verification of a non-linear furnace model wi th plant data is shown. The design of MPC controllers for the furnace is di scussed and results are shown by way of simulation. Evaluation of the final controller against traditional manual operation is done, and the setpoint tracking capability of the controller is tested. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.