Centralized vs decentralized adaptive generalized predictive control of a biodiesel reactor

A second look at biodiesel reactor control using Recursive Least Squares (RLS)-based adaptive Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) strategy revealed the possibility of a simpler alternative to the previously published centralized RLS-based GPC controller (CRLS-GPC). New results show that the simpler decentralized RLS-based GPC controller (DRLS-GPC) was on par with the more sophisticated centralized version in terms of servo and regulatory control, process interactions handling, and the resultant controller moves. Moreover, the simplified control scheme remained superior to the conventional Proportional-Integral controller. Such attributes make the DRLS-GPC an attractive compromise between complexity and performance.