1. Diagnosis and Management of Faults in Distributed Chemical Processes P
Diagnosis and Management of Faults in Distributed Chemical Processes P.I.: Nael H. El-Farra, Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, UC Davis
Objective: Development of a unified framework for model-based fault detection and isolation (FDI)
and fault-tolerant control (FTC) of distributed processes modeled by systems of nonlinear partial
differential equations with constrained uncertain dynamics and limited measurements.
Methodological framework:
(1) Model reduction: low-order model captures dominant dynamics
(2) Reduced-order model-based FDI-FTC architecture:
(a) Control: robustly stabilizing feedback laws
(b) Monitoring: FDI rules based on actual vs. fault-free behavior
(c) Reconfiguration: Stability-based actuator switching laws
(3) Implementation on the distributed process:
Linking alarm thresholds & reconfiguration rules to process structure via perturbation theory
Applications to simulated models of particulate processes:
Isothermal continuous crystallizer
Influence of control system failures on Crystal Size Distribution (CSD)
Shaping CSD through integrated monitoring and reconfigurable control