A safe-parking framework for plant-wide fault-tolerant control

This work addresses the problem of handling actuator faults in a chemical plant. We consider a multi-unit nonlinear process system subject to input constraints and actuator faults in one unit that preclude the possibility of operating the unit at its nominal equilibrium point. The interconnected nature of the units in a plant brings forth unique opportunities as well as challenges that simply do not exist when handling faults in isolated units. In particular, the fact that the outlet streams from a faulty unit go through subsequent (well functioning) units raises the possibility of better restricting the effects of the fault to the faulty unit. At the same time, handling a fault in a unit may necessitate appropriate action in the downstream unit, which is not a result of a fault in the downstream unit. To address such issues that arise when handling faults in chemical plants, in this work we present a safe-parking framework (we define, in a previous work on handling faults in isolated units, a safe-park point as an operating point where in the event of a fault, a unit can be operated in a way that prevents onset of hazardous situation and allows smooth resumption of nominal operation) for plant-wide fault-tolerant control. We first consider the case where there exists a safe-park point for the faulty unit such that the effect of safe-parking can be completely rejected (via changing the nominal values of the manipulated variables) in the downstream unit. Steady-state as well as dynamic considerations (including the presence of input constraints) is used in determining the necessary conditions for safe-parking the multi-unit system. We next consider the problem where no viable safe-park point for the faulty unit exists such that its effect can be completely rejected in the subsequent unit. A methodology is presented to simultaneously safe-park the consecutive units. Finally, we incorporate performance considerations in the safe-parking framework and illustrate the implementation of the safe-parking framework using a multi-unit chemical reactor system. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.