A new neural linearizing control scheme using radial basis function network

To control nonlinear chemical processes, a new neural linearizing control scheme is proposed. This is a hybrid of a radial basis function(RBF) network and a linear controller, thus the control action applied to the process is the sum of both control actions. Firstly, to train the RBF newtork a linear reference model is determined by analyzing the past operating data of the process. Then, the training of the RBF newtork is iteratively performed to minimize the difference between outputs of the process and the linear reference model. As a result, the apparent dynamics of the process added by the RBF newtork becomes similar to that of the linear reference model. After training, the original nonlinear control problem changes to a linear one, and the closed-loop control performance is improved by using the optimum tuning parameters of the linear controller for the linear dynamics. The proposed control scheme performs control and training simultaneously, and shows a good control performance for nonlinear chemical processes.