Dynamic real-time optimization of distributed MPC systems using rigorous closed-loop prediction

A dynamic real-time optimization (DRTO) formulation with closed-loop prediction is used to coordinate distributed model predictive controllers (MPCs) by rigorously predicting the interaction between the distributed MPCs and full plant response in the DRTO formulation. This results a multi-level optimization problem that is solved by replacing the MPC quadratic programming subproblems by their equivalent Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) first-order optimality conditions to yield a single-level mathematical program with complementarity constraints (MPCC). The proposed formulation is able to perform both target tracking and economic optimization with significant performance improvement over decentralized control, and similar performance to centralized MPC. A linear dynamic case study illustrates the performance of the proposed strategy for coordination of distributed MPCs for different levels of plant interaction. The method is thereafter applied to a nonlinear integrated plant with recycle, where its performance in both set-point target tracking and economic optimization is demonstrated.