Numerical Analysis for Real-time Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of Ethanol Steam Reformers

TL;DR

This paper investigates numerical methods for real-time nonlinear model predictive control of ethanol steam reformers, combining theoretical analysis and numerical experiments to improve hydrogen production efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a novel numerical approach for solving the PDE models of ethanol steam reforming within NMPC frameworks, including conversion to conservation form.

Findings

Numerical methods enable real-time NMPC implementation.

Conversion to conservation form improves solver stability.

Results demonstrate potential for efficient hydrogen production control.

Abstract

The utilization of renewable energy technologies, particularly hydrogen, has seen a boom in interest and has spread throughout the world. Ethanol steam reformation is one of the primary methods capable of producing hydrogen efficiently and reliably. This paper provides an in-depth study of the reformulated system both theoretically and numerically, as well as a plan to explore the possibility of converting the system into its conservation form. Lastly, we offer an overview of several numerical approaches for solving the general first-order quasi-linear hyperbolic equation to the particular model for ethanol steam reforming (ESR). We conclude by presenting some results that would enable the usage of these ODE/PDE solvers to be used in non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) algorithms and discuss the limitations of our approach and directions for future work.