Data-Driven Nonlinear Subspace Modeling for Prediction and Control of Molten Iron Quality Indices in Blast Furnace Ironmaking

Blast furnace (BF) in ironmaking is a nonlinear dynamic process with complicated physical-chemical reactions, where multiphases and multifields interactions with long time delay phenomena take place during its operation. In BF operation, the molten iron temperature as well as the Si content ([Si]), the phosphorus content ([P]), and the sulfur content ([S]) is the most essential quality (MIQ) indices. The measurement, modeling, and control of these indices have always been important issues in metallurgic engineering and automation. This paper proposes a novel data-driven nonlinear state-space modeling method for the prediction and control of multivariate MIQ indices by integrating hybrid modeling and control techniques together. First, to improve modeling efficiency, a data-driven hybrid method that combines canonical correlation analysis and correlation analysis is established to identify the most influential controllable variables as the modeling inputs from multitudinous factors. Then, a Hammerstein model for the prediction of MIQ indices is established using the Least squares support vector machine-based nonlinear subspace identification method. Such a model is further simplified by using piecewise cubic Hermite interpolating polynomial method. Compared with the original Hammerstein model, it has been shown that this simplified model can not only significantly reduce the computational complexity, but can also exhibit a good reliability and accuracy for a stable prediction of MIQ indices. In order to verify the practicability of the developed model, it is applied to the design of a genetic algorithm based nonlinear predictive controller for the multivariate MIQ indices by directly taking the established model as a predictor. Industrial experiments show the advantages and effectiveness of the proposed approaches.