Model Predictive Control of a Mechanical Pulp Bleaching Process

In this paper we present and discuss all aspects of controlling a realworld delay-time system application, the pulp bleaching process at Irving Paper Ltd. The bleaching process was thoroughly studied and modelled. A delay-time estimator was designed to tackle the problem of the long variable delay time, which was considered the biggest challenge in this project. The model predictive control (MPC ) strategy was chosen to control the bleaching process taking into account its constraints, which were handled by incorporating a state of the art optimization method, i.e., an interior point method, in the controller. The designed MPC controller was implemented in the Irving Paper mill, in order to test and demonstrate its performance and stability.