Quasi-Optimal Regulation of FlowNetworks with Input Constraints

TL;DR

This paper develops distributed controllers for flow networks with input saturation, ensuring convergence to near-optimal steady states while respecting constraints, demonstrated through a district heating network case study.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Lyapunov-based distributed control method for flow networks with input constraints, guaranteeing convergence and constraint satisfaction.

Findings

Controllers achieve global convergence to near-optimal states

Constraints are effectively enforced during regulation

Method applied successfully to district heating network

Abstract

In this work we consider a flow network for which the goal is to solve a practical optimal regulation problem in the presence of input saturation. Based on Lyapunov arguments we propose distributed controllers which guarantee global convergence to an arbitrarily small neighborhood of the desired optimal steady state while fulfilling the constraints. As a case study we apply our distributed controller to a district heating network.