Optimal iIMC-PD Double-Loop Control Strategy for Integrating Processes with Dead-Time

In this work, indirect internal model control - proportional derivative (iIMC-PD) double-loop controller is suggested to control the dynamics of integrating processes with dead-time. The inner loop consists of a PD controller which is responsible for the disturbance rejection. Its operational settings are determined using Routh-Hurwitz (RH) stability criteria. The outer loop comprises of the iIMC controller which is responsible for the set point tracking. The optimal value of both inner loop as well as outer loop tunables are obtained using a metaheuristic technique called the Equilibrium Optimizer (EO) with the objective of minimizing the Integrated Squared Error (ISE). Simulation results establish the satisfactory enhancement of the suggested control strategy over some of the recent works.