An industrial implementation of a generic NMPC controller with application to a batch process

In the last decade a lot of attention was given to non-linear model predictive control. On one hand, in many applications linear MPC does not suffice to achieve the control goals over a wide range of operating conditions, while on the other hand many academic challenges remained in the area of NMPC, such as stability, computational complexity, etc... This paper discusses the industrial implementation of an NMPC controller at IPCOS and the different trade-offs made during the design, with the aim of clarifying the different criteria that are used in an industrial context. Results are illustrated on a chemical batch reactor.