Multivariable decoupling internal model control for grinding circuit

Grinding circuit (GC) of mineral processing industry is characterized by its multivariable, severe coupling and multiple time delay nature. The product particle size and the mill throughput of GC are the important performance indexes directly related to the performance of the subsequent process and the production rate of the overall mineral processing plant respectively. However, they are hard to control effectively with conventional control strategies due to the above complex characteristics of GC. In this paper, a multivariable decoupling internal model control (MDIMC) scheme is adopted to handle such intricate process. Control studies have been performed by simulation tests for servo, regulatory, disturbance rejection and robustness problems.