Optimal regulation of flow networks with transient constraints

TL;DR

This paper develops a distributed control method for flow networks that ensures output regulation and optimal input coordination despite disturbances and constraints, validated through case studies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel distributed controller leveraging incremental passivity for optimal regulation of flow networks with transient constraints.

Findings

Controller achieves global asymptotic stability.

Effective in district heating and HVDC network case studies.

Ensures optimal input coordination under constraints.

Abstract

This paper investigates the control of flow networks, where the control objective is to regulate the measured output (e.g storage levels) towards a desired value. We present a distributed controller that dynamically adjusts the inputs and flows, to achieve output regulation in the presence of unknown disturbances, while satisfying given input and flow constraints. Optimal coordination among the inputs, minimizing a suitable cost function, is achieved by exchanging information over a communication network. Exploiting an incremental passivity property, the desired steady state is proven to be globally asymptotically attractive under the closed loop dynamics. Two case studies (a district heating system and a multi-terminal HVDC network) show the effectiveness of the proposed solution.