Relationship between on-line process control and local equipment optimization problems in factories using continuous processing technology (Q1089289)

An optimal control procedure for a chemical process consisting of an interconnected system of continuous process equipments and tanks for storing raw materials, unfinished, and finished products is examined. A static optimal control problem can be roughly separated into two separate problems in a rather broad class of practical applications without using interactive decomposition. The upper-level problem chooses values for the basic equipment loads and the lower-level problems define the modes of operation for these equipments. using the proposed procedure allows the correct relationship between the problems of the different hierarchical control levels to be established as the integrated automatic control system for the process is being constructed.