Multi-output process identification

In model based control of multivariate processes, it has been common practice to identify a multi-input single-output (MISO) model for each output separately and then combine the individual models into a final MIMO model. If models for all outputs are independently parameterized then this approach is optimal. However, if there are common or correlated parameters among models for different output variables and/or correlated noise, then performing identification on all outputs simultaneously can lead to better and more robust models. In this paper, theoretical justifications for using multi-output identification for a multivariate process are presented and the potential benefits from using them are investigated via simulations on two process examples: a quality control example and an extractive distillation column. The identification of both the parsimonious transfer function models using multivariate prediction error methods, and of non-parsimonious finite impulse response (FIR) models using multivariate statistical regression methods such as partial least squares (PLS2), canonical correlation regression (CCR) and reduced rank regression (RRR) are considered. The multi-output identification results are compared to traditional single-output identification from several points of view: best predictions, closeness of the model to the true process, the precision of the identified models in frequency domain, stability robustness of the resulting model based control system, and multivariate control performance. The multi-output identification methods are shown to be superior to the single-output methods on the basis of almost all the criteria. Improvements in the prediction of individual outputs and in the closeness of the model to the true process are only marginal. The major benefits are in the stability and performance robustness of controllers based on the identified models. In this sense the multi-output identification methods are more ‘control relevant’.