2016 Indian Control Conference (ICC)
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
January 4-6, 2016. Hyderabad, India
Control and Optimization of a Cement Rotary
Kiln: a Model Predictive Control approach
S. M. Zanoli, C. Pepe, M. Rocchi
DII, Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione
UNIVPM, Università Politecnica delle Marche
Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona (AN), Italy
{s.zanoli, c.pepe}@univpm.it
Abstract— In this paper, a Model Predictive Control
strategy is used to stabilize a temperature profile along a
cement rotary kiln minimizing fuel specific consumption. The
adopted system architecture is composed of two different
optimization layers that interact in order to improve control
performances and to meet possibly variable economic goals.
The developed cooperation logic between the two layers that
takes into account priority ranking of controlled variables
constraints has been proven to improve system performances.
The developed MPC system has been implemented on a cement
plant and its performances are compared to the performances
of the previous system based on standard PID controllers. The
results are very satisfactory in terms of economic benefits and
of minimization of environmental noxious emissions.
Keywords—cement rotary kiln; model predictive control;
economic optimization; process control.
I. INTRODUCTION
In today's society, cement forms a fundamental element
of any housing or infrastructure development. In the last fifty
years, the world cement production has grown in a constant
manner, both in the developed and developing countries [1].
Producing cement requires limestone, among other materials,
and heat in significantly high quantities. Large quantities of
limestone are ground and sent, in combination with other
materials, like clay, to large rotary kilns. Very high
temperatures cause chemical reactions that convert these
combined materials into cement. Process innovations and
advanced process control technologies are essential for
leading to resource and energy efficiency and cost savings in
the long term. These goals have motivated the present work
that, using advanced control strategies, aims at achieving a
compromise between the economic objectives and the
production specifications. This is expected to yield benefits
whose payback time is significantly lower than the one
required by pursuing process innovation [2]. In particular the
development and implementation of a Model Predictive
Control (MPC) system for the optimization of a rotary kiln
process located in an Italian cement plant is proposed.
A tailored owner software solution has been developed
for the implementation of the MPC controller. This was
originally motivated by the need of not relaying on industrial
products, the choice of which may depend on firms’
management policy. In addition, this choice allowed a
978-1-4673-7993-9/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
suitable customization of the MPC system to specific needs
of the process at issue. The control scheme consists in a two-
layer control architecture: a TOCS (Targets Optimization and
Constraints Softening) module cooperates with the traditional
Dynamic Optimizer (DO) module, in order to guarantee the
desired steady state solution, by preventing harmful steady
state constraints relaxations and by supplying a reference
target for the manipulated and controlled variables.
The paper is organized as follows: a description of the
process at issue is given in Section II. In Section III, after a
brief introduction on the key regulation features in a cement
rotary kiln, general concepts on MPC are given. The
proposed control architecture is presented and discussed in
Section IV. Results of the proposed MPC implemented in the
cement rotary kiln unit are reported in Section V and its
performances are compared with the previous control
structure. Finally, conclusions are summarized in Section VI.
II. PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The cement production process can be divided into
different stages, schematically depicted in Fig. 1: raw
material is preprocessed and sent to the kiln for the clinker
production. Following treatments differentiate the production
of the required quality/type of the cement. The clinker is the
fundamental component of the cement obtained by the baking
of natural minerals. The clinker is made from lime, silica,
alumina, iron and magnesium oxides, and other minor parts.
This work is focused on the clinker production phase. In
Fig. 2 the clinker production process is represented. The raw
meal is subjected to a process characterized by increasing
temperatures: drying, preheating, calcination and clinkering
are the main clinker production steps. Various types of
cement are then obtained in the final stage by differentiating
the mixture of clinker with other materials such as calcium
sulfate, pozzuolan and limestone.
A rotary kiln is a steel cylinder, horizontally sloped (about
2.5 %-4.5 %), that rotates around its axis so as to allow
processed mixture move along it. A fuel burner placed at the
end of the kiln triggers combustion. A suspension preheater,
composed by four cyclones stages, preheats raw meal, before
its entry in the rotary kiln: in this way an increase of the heat
transfer rate is obtained, allowing a full and efficient heat
exchange. An induced draft (ID) fan pulls up exhaust the
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combustion

Figure 1. Schematic representation of cement production.

Figure 2. Schematic representation of the considered cement kiln.
gas of from the kiln: the gas, flowing through the cyclones
from the bottom upwards, is mixed with raw meal The variables selected as the most important CVs, as
downstream; a separation/reunification between gas and raw reported in Table I, are oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2)
meal takes place within cyclones stages. This cyclical process and nitrogen oxides (NOx) concentration together with the
of blending, separation and remixing is repeated until the temperature at the preheater tower (“cyclones temperature”),
material is discharged from the last cyclone stage to the the back end temperature and the kiln torque; fuel charge
rotary kiln [1]. rate, ID fan speed and meal flow rate have been selected as
MVs (see Table II). Kiln speed has been set as DV, as shown
III. CONTROL DESIGN in Table III. In fact, this variable is exploited by operators to
prevent arising of rings and preheater buildups. In Fig. 2, the
A. Control Specifications positions of the above selected variables are depicted.
The most percentage of energy consumption in the
cement industry is required for the clinker production phase. TABLE I. CONTROLLED VARIABLES (CVs)
Thus, in order to achieve a stable trend for the productivity
Controlled Variables Variable Name
and quality while assuring process safety and reducing Oxygen O2 [%]
energy consumption and environmental impact, an Advanced Carbon Dioxide CO2 [%]
Process Control (APC) system has been developed [1], [2], Nitrogen Oxides NOx [ppm]
[3]. After an accurate study of the reactions and of the “Cyclones” Temperature TCy [°C]
mechanical phenomena involved in a cement rotary kiln, the Back End Temperature TBe [°C]
following operational constraints have been considered: Kiln Torque Mt [%]

 keep oxygen (O2) concentration within specified TABLE II. MANIPULATED VARIABLES (MVs)
ranges: this is crucial in order to guarantee oxidizing
Manipulated Variables Variable Name
conditions for a correct combustion process; ID Fan Speed Fan Speed [%]
 maintain the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and Coal Kiln Fuel [Kg/h]
nitrogen oxides (NOx) under imposed limits: this is Meal Flow Rate Meal [t/h]
imposed by safety environment constraints;
TABLE III. DISTURBANCE VARIABLES (DVs)
 keep the kiln torque within specified mechanical
operating range Disturbance Variables Variable Name
the final goal being the Rotation Kiln Speed Kiln Speed [rpm]

 fuel consumption minimization and productivity B. Model Predictive Control

maximization
while respecting back end and cyclones temperatures
constraints, in order to allow proper chemical reactions.
For the attainment of these control specifications,
seventeen Controlled Variables (CVs), three Manipulated
Variables (MVs) and one measured Disturbance Variable
(DV) were considered for the implementation of the
controller. The terms controlled and manipulated variables
adopted in the present work denote the input and output
variables of the system, respectively, as generally referred in
the process industry field; disturbance variables denote
(input) variables that influence the outputs but that cannot be
moved by the controller.
Model Predictive Control techniques have been adopted
for controlling the rotary kiln process. This technique is
particularly suited for the development of the considered
control system that has to achieve a compromise between
productivity, energy consumption, process safety,
environmental impact and products quality [4], [5].
MPC strategy is based on the knowledge of the system
dynamical model used to predict the future evolution of the
process [6], [7]. The minimization of a cost function is
performed so to compute the optimal sequence of moves
capable to maintain process variables within the limitations
assigned. Basic MPC consists of a Dynamic Optimizer (DO)
which, through the “receding horizon idea”, computes the
future control moves.

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C. Dynamic Optimizer
At each control instant, current process data are acquired
and a new set of MVs values is computed by solving a
dynamical constrained optimization problem. In the proposed
control system, a Quadratic Programming (QP) problem,
subject to linear inequality constraints, is considered for the
computation of the optimal future control moves. The
adopted cost function is, for a generic control instant :
𝐻
𝑝
𝑉( ) = ∑𝑖=𝐻 ‖𝑦̂( + 𝑖| ) − 𝑟( + 𝑖| )‖2𝒬(𝑖) +
𝑤
𝐻𝑝
+ ∑𝑖=0 ‖𝑢̂( + 𝑖| ) − 𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 ( + 𝑖| )‖
2
+ (1)
𝐻𝑢 −1
𝒮(𝑖)
+ ∑𝑖=0 ‖𝛥𝑢̂( + 𝑖| )‖2ℛ(𝑖) + 𝜌𝜀( )2
where 𝑦̂( + 𝑖| ) and 𝑟( + 𝑖| ) are, respectively, the
output predictions and the reference trajectories at the future
control instant + 𝑖, while 𝑢̂( + 𝑖| ) and 𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 ( + 𝑖| )
are, respectively, the input predictions and the reference
trajectories at the future control instant + 𝑖. 𝛥𝑢̂( + 𝑖| ),
namely the future control moves, is the vector of decision
variables; for infeasibility handling, to allow some controlled
variables constraints to be relaxed, a slack variable 𝜀( ) has
been introduced.
For a successful implementation, the following tuning
(see [6]) have to be carefully chosen: the prediction horizon
, the control horizon 𝑢 , the window parameter 𝑤 :
optimization is performed over computing 𝑢 control
moves, and the first control move of the computed sequence
will be activated at the instant 𝑤 . Other design parameters
are the positive (semi-) definite tracking error matrices 𝒬(𝑖)
and 𝒮(𝑖), the positive definite weighting matrices ℛ(𝑖) and
the scalar 𝜌, useful to penalize control moves and soft
constraints relaxations, respectively.
For the problem formulation at issue, the following linear
inequalities constraints hold:
i. 𝑙𝑏𝑑𝑢 (𝑖) ≤ 𝛥𝑢̂( + 𝑖| ) ≤ 𝑢𝑏𝑑𝑢 (𝑖), 𝑖 = 0, … , 𝑢 − 1
ii. 𝑙𝑏𝑢 (𝑖) ≤ 𝑢̂( + 𝑖| ) ≤ 𝑢𝑏𝑢 (𝑖), 𝑖 = 0, … , 𝑢 − 1
iii. 𝑙𝑏𝑦 (𝑖) − 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑙𝑏𝑦 (𝑖) ∙ 𝜀( ) ≤ 𝑦̂( + 𝑖| ) ≤ 𝑢𝑏𝑦 (𝑖) +
+𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑢𝑏𝑦 (𝑖) ∙ 𝜀( ), 𝑖 = 𝑤 , … ,
iv. 𝜀( ) ≥ 0
where, for each variable v, 𝑙𝑏𝑣 (𝑖) and 𝑢𝑏𝑣 (𝑖) are the
lower and upper bounds and 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑙𝑏𝑦 (𝑖) and 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑢𝑏𝑦 (𝑖),
(Equal Concern for the Relaxation) are weighting parameters
introduced to assign, in cooperation with the scalar 𝜌, a
priority ranking in constraints relaxation [8], [9].
In (2), dynamical constraints of type i take into account
limitation on the maximum MVs decrease and increase rates,
while the constraints of type ii and iii represent the MVs and
CVs magnitude limitations. Finally, constraints of type iv
guarantee nonnegative values of the slack variable, according
to the (2.iii) constraints formulation.
IV. PROPOSED CONTROL ARCHITECTURE
A two-layer control architecture has been adopted for the
Model Predictive APC system (see Fig. 3): the upper layer
performs an online steady state targets optimization, while
the lower layer performs an online quadratic, linear
constrained, dynamic optimization as described in Section
III-C.
The 𝑟 and 𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 reference trajectories in the DO module
(see (1)) can be manually adjusted by operators based on
their process knowledge. These are key parameters with a
strong impact on the performances of the system in terms of
energy consumption minimization. As an alternative in this
work, enhancements on the system performances have been
fulfilled with the introduction, at the upper layer of the
proposed architecture, of a Targets Optimization and
Constraints Softening (TOCS) module. This block, through
the formulation of a linear or quadratic programming
problem, searches for optimal targets of the dynamic
reference trajectories 𝑟 and 𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 , taking into account steady
state constraints on manipulated and controlled variables. As
it will be clarified in the following sections, in order to cope
with problems related to the DO optimization problem
formulation, an additional feature is added to the cooperation
between TOCS and DO: TOCS module, in addition to
reference trajectories computation, performs a suitable “pre
softening” of the CVs constraints.
DO module is responsible of the transient state behavior
of the plant, while complying with steady state MVs and CVs
targets and with steady state constraints calculated by TOCS
module. TOCS must provide to DO a “well-posed” steady
state configuration. It will be shown later what this means in
terms of DO problem statement.
For the development of the MPC control system the
adopted formulation is state space based. State estimation for
both TOCS and DO modules is computed by a Kalman filter
(see Fig. 3) thus providing TOCS and DO modules with
MPC CVs free predictions [6].
(2)
Figure 3. Control system architecture.
A. TOCS Module
In the proposed control system, a Linear Programming
(LP) problem, subject to linear constraints, is considered
within TOCS module.
The adopted cost function is, for a control instant :
𝑉𝑠𝑠 ( ) = 𝑐𝑀𝑉 𝑇 ∙ 𝛥𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 + 𝑐𝐶𝑉 𝑇 ∙ 𝛥𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠 +
+𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑇 ∙ 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 + 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑇 ∙ 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥
(3)
where 𝛥𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 and 𝛥𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠 are the optimal steady state
moves for MVs and CVs, 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 and 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥 are the slack
variables for the possible CVs constraints relaxation, 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛
and 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥 are weighting vectors and 𝑐𝑀𝑉 and 𝑐𝐶𝑉 are
parameters that weight the economic cost of the MVs and
CVs, respectively. Exploiting the input-output gain matrix
G, a steady state relationship between 𝛥𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 and 𝛥𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠 has
been considered in (4) and a set of inequalities constraints
have been imposed as in (5):
𝛥𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠 = ∙ 𝛥𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 (4)
113
 i. 𝑙𝑏𝑑𝑢_𝑠𝑠 ≤ 𝛥𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 ≤ 𝑢𝑏𝑑𝑢_𝑠𝑠
ii. 𝑙𝑏𝑢_𝑠𝑠 ≤ 𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 ≤ 𝑢𝑏𝑢_𝑠𝑠
iii. 𝑙𝑏𝑦_𝑠𝑠 − 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑙𝑏_𝑠𝑠 ∙ 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 ≤ 𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠 ≤ (5)
𝑢𝑏𝑦_𝑠𝑠 + 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑢𝑏_𝑠𝑠 ∙ 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥
iv. 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 ≥ 0; 𝜀𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥 ≥ 0
To each variable v in (5), 𝑙𝑏𝑣 (𝑖) lower bounds and
𝑢𝑏𝑣 (𝑖) upper bounds are assigned. The cooperation between
the 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑙𝑏_𝑠𝑠 , 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑢𝑏_𝑠𝑠 vectors and the 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 , 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥
vectors establishes a priority ranking in steady state
constraints relaxation. The optimal steady state moves
𝛥𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 and 𝛥𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠 computed by TOCS are exploited for the
computation of the end terms of DO reference trajectories:
𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠 = 𝑟( + | = 𝑦̂( + | )|𝛥𝒰(𝑘)=0 + 𝛥𝐶𝑉𝑠𝑠
(6)
𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 ( + | ) = 𝑢( − 1) + 𝛥𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑠
A single slack variable for each CV constraint has been
introduced in TOCS formulation: in this way better accuracy
on the management of the constraints relaxations can be
guaranteed with respect to DO.
B. TOCS-DO Cooperation
During the conduction of a real plant through an APC
system, there may be situations where no solution to the DO
problem exists within the considered constraints set. This
may be caused, for example, by inconsistency between
operators’ maneuvers and internal models, or by particular
process operating conditions. Anyway, a DO solution must
be assured for controlling the real plant: the introduction of a
slack variable (see 𝜀 in (2)) in DO-CVs constraints
guarantees this fundamental requirement. Numerical
problems are prevented and computational load is reduced
considering a single slack variable in DO formulation. The
drawback of this design choice consists in the “induced”
relaxations which take place whenever a single CV constraint
needs to be relaxed. In this case, DO extends the softening to
all other CVs. DO-ECR parameters can weigh the effect of
these “induced” constraints relaxations; nevertheless, this
effect negatively affects plant behavior and possibly its
safety, causing, for example, a reduced promptness of the
controller. In order to obtain a major attenuation of this
effect, TOCS, in addition to the computation of DO steady
state targets, performs a “pre softening” action on the
involved CVs steady state constraints. This action complies
with TOCS priority ranking on CVs steady state constraints
which results by the joined setting of 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑙𝑏_𝑠𝑠 , 𝐸𝐶𝑅𝑢𝑏_𝑠𝑠 ,
𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 and 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥 vectors. Thereby, the formulation of DO
with a single slack variable is partially compensated by
providing DO with TOCS “well-posed” steady state
configuration. In the proposed MPC system, consistency
between TOCS and DO optimization problems is guaranteed
by appropriate values of and 𝑢 horizons, and by a joined
setting, in (2) and (5), of the lower and upper bounds.
V. DISCUSSION AND RESULTS
To equip the proposed controller with a suitable internal
model of the clinker process, a black box approach for the
identification procedure has been adopted. Linear First Order
Plus Dead Time (FOPDT) and Second Order Plus Dead Time
(SOPDT) models have resulted from this design phase [10],
[11]. MPC system cycle time has been set to one minute,
114
consistently with the sampling time assumed in the
identification phase.
The minimization of the fuel consumption and the
maximization of the productivity, i.e. the maximization of the
meal flow rate, are the considered economic objectives of the
clinker production phase.
According to economic goals, the DO controller actions
on CVs are limited to the meeting of the assigned CVs
limitations. 𝜌 value is tuned in order to assure the dominance
of the DO slack variable in the DO quadratic cost function;
the desired priority ranking in CVs constraints relaxation is
guaranteed by the tuning of DO-ECR parameters: for
example, meeting the O2 limitations is more stringent than the
compliance with NOx ones. Thus, O2 ECR parameter,
normalized to its end scale, is set smaller than NOx one. The
tuning of 𝒮 and ℛ matrices has to balance control efforts and
economic optimization. In particular, the parameter of 𝒮
matrix related to ID fan speed is set to zero. In order to
guarantee steady state reaching for all CVs, the prediction
horizon is set at 120 minutes, with a control horizon of 10
control moves [12]. The window parameter 𝑤 is set at one
minute for all CVs, except for NOx: its window parameter is
set at 4 minutes, according to its minimum delay.
TOCS module shares the same control objectives of DO.
𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 and 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥 tuning is performed so to assure the
dominance of the TOCS slack variables in the TOCS linear
cost function; TOCS-ECR parameters are set so as to
guarantee, in cooperation with 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑖𝑛 and 𝜌𝑠𝑠_𝑚𝑎𝑥 , the DO
priority ranking in CVs constraints relaxation. 𝑐𝐶𝑉 weights
and ID fan speed 𝑐𝑀𝑉 weight are set to zero, while fuel
charge rate and meal flow rate 𝑐𝑀𝑉 weights are set to positive
and negative values, respectively.
To prove the validity of the considered TOCS-DO
cooperation, a typical situation encountered in the first phase
of the commissioning is proposed in simulation: an operator’s
change on the upper constraint of the back end temperature is
considered (no variations are performed on the constraints of
the MVs and of the other CVs). The imposed variation is not
in agreement with the process behavior, so, in order to assure
a solution to the control problem, the violation on some CVs
constraints is necessary. In the first phase of the
commissioning on the real plant, such inconsistencies
between operators’ actions and the process have been often
detected, resulting in limited performances of the only TOCS
optimal targets drive for DO module. This problem has
motivated the introduction of the “pre softening” strategy in
the TOCS module. In the proposed example the benefits
provided by this additional action are discussed.
The simulation starting point satisfies all MVs and CVs
limitations, and DO module, supplied by TOCS optimal
targets, performs economic optimization, minimizing kiln
fuel and maximizing meal flow rate. At the time instant 20,
as shown in Fig. 6, the back end temperature upper bound is
subjected to a change of about -30 °C. In Fig. 4-6 the trends
of the most significant CVs, i.e. O2, NOx and back end
temperature are shown while in Fig. 7 the meal flow rate is
depicted (ID fan speed and kiln fuel have not been reported,
for brevity). The value of the rotation kiln speed is kept
constant to 2 rpm. In Fig. 4-7, at the top of each figure
 a)
b)
Figure 4. Oxygen trends - a) without TOCS pre softening action - b) with
TOCS pre softening action.
a)
b)
Figure 5. Nitrogen Oxides trends - a) without TOCS pre softening action -
b) with TOCS pre softening action.
(figure a), the case where just TOCS optimal targets for fuel
and meal are forwarded to the DO module is depicted. At the
bottom of each figure (figure b), in addition to the TOCS
optimal targets, “pre softening” of CVs magnitude
constraints is also forwarded to DO.
TOCS optimal solution is changed by constraint
variation: a relaxation of about 12 °C on the back end
temperature upper bound is computed by TOCS while no
softening is required for O2 and NOx. In the first case, where
TOCS-DO cooperation is limited to kiln fuel and meal
TOCS targets, the single slack variable in cost function (1)
due to the constraint change, causes induced relaxations on
all CVs constraints. In particular, as Fig. 4-5 show, the
oxygen and nitrogen oxides lower constraints (red lines) are
115
a)
b)
Figure 6. Back End Temperature trends - a) without TOCS pre softening
action - b) with TOCS pre softening action.
a)
b)
Figure 7. Meal Flow Rate trends - a) without TOCS pre softening action -
b) with TOCS pre softening action.
relaxed (magenta line), so the assigned constraints are
violated by these two fundamental variables (blue lines). In
the second case, DO, based on TOCS “pre softened” upper
bound of back end temperature (cyan line in Fig. 6) and on
kiln fuel and meal optimal targets, restores O2 and NOx
variables inside their constraints, after a transient. Besides,
Fig. 4-6 show that, in this second case, softening in the
initial phase is lower than the one exhibited in the first case.
In Fig. 7, meal flow rate behavior in the two control
strategies are compared. After the constraint variation, a
better tracking of meal flow rate is guaranteed by the second
control solution.
In the analyzed control application for an Italian cement
plant, operators’ manual driving of PID control loops has
been replaced by the designed APC system. The controller
has been integrated in a Supervisory Control And Data
Acquisition (SCADA [13]) system.
Fig. 8-9 show the specific consumption of the kiln
process and NOx concentration: the behaviors with manual
driving and with MPC driving are compared, respectively.
The period considered for the comparison refers to three
weeks before and after the MPC installation. After MPC
introduction, a relevant reduction on the variance related to
the key CVs (such as NOx) has been observed: the process,
optimized by the proposed TOCS-DO cooperation, safely
operates closer to its boundary constraints. In this way,
specific kiln consumption (see Fig. 8) is reduced, leading to
energy efficiency maximization. Furthermore, a better
regulation of CVs led to reduction of chemical and
environmental emissions, i.e. to nitrogen oxides
concentration lowering.
The overall results obtained after approximately a year
and half since MPC first start up are:
 average reduction of 4% in O2 concentration with a
standard deviation reduction of about 5%;
 11% reduction in average NOx concentration with a
standard deviation reduction of about 32.5%;
 1.1% reduction of specific consumption.
Figure 8. Specific Consumption pre and post MPC.
Figure 9. Nitrogen Oxides pre and post MPC.
VI. CONCLUSION
In order to improve chemical, environmental and
economic performances of the clinker production phase in an
Italian cement industry, an Advanced Process Control
system has been designed by the authors. The control
strategy has been formulated with a linear Model Predictive
Controller, characterized by a two-layer architecture and by
their fruitful cooperation. After the first phase of the
commissioning, in order to manage conflicts between
operators’ and MPC process models, an enhancement of the
116
proposed cooperation has been performed. In this way,
effects due to critical situations have been attenuated.
After a detailed test phase, the developed controller has
been installed in the considered Italian cement industry,
substituting the previous operators’ manual driving of local
PID control loops: specific consumption, i.e. the variable
that covers opposing requirements, has been significantly
reduced, guaranteeing an enhanced trade-off between energy
consumption and pollution impact minimization,
productivity maximization, while monitoring safety
specifications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thanks all the staff of the i.Process s.r.l.
for its insights and the fruitful collaboration.
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