Model Predictive Control Design for the Allam Power Plant Integrated with an Air Separation Unit

Since electricity and heat generation account for around 25% of this greenhouse gas emission, high efficiency power generation technology such as the Allam cycle which emits essentially no CO₂ and NOx is much needed. Being an oxy-fuel power cycle, the Allam power plant is inherently integrated with an air separation plant (ASU). In this study Aspen Plus Dynamics was used to model the integrated Allam power plant/Air Separation Unit (ASU) with a high degree of heat and work integration based on the steady state work of Net Power. In our previous work, regulatory and advanced PID controls were implemented and tested for various set point tracking and disturbance rejection scenarios. However, PID controllers have limitations for various reasons. Consequently, a model predictive control (MPC) was designed in this study to optimize and improve the performance of the integrated unit and to test its performance in terms of dynamic behavior and robustness to model uncertainties.