Modeling and Fuzzy Control of a Crude Oil Preheating Furnace

This paper presents the development of mathematical model and designing a temperature control system for an industrial preheating furnace. In the first part of the paper, the simulation model was developed based on thermodynamics principles, energy-mass balance and semi-empirical relations. The parameters of developed models were defined with respect to available operational and geometrical data from real system. In the second part, an appropriate control system was designed for regulating the preheating furnace temperature. A fuzzy logic controller and a feedback/feedforward controller were employed for operating in coordination with each other to maintain the process outlet temperature around 360 oC. Simulation results show the capability of the designed control system to regulate the furnace outlet temperature at different operating conditions and in the presence of disturbances.