| This report presents the development and design of the Observer for state estimation in the presence of plant-model mismatch. A new observer structure is introduced which is based on the robust control problem in the H-infinity framework. The estimation problem is reduced to H-infinity control problem. The strength and weaknesses of proposed design methodology are discussed. This design approach is applied to an experimentally verified simulation model of Utility Boiler at Syncrude power plant, Mildred Lake, Alberta. The boiler selected exhibits non-linearities, time delays and non-minimum phase behavior. The design shows the limitation imposed on estimation problem due to time delays and non-minimum phase. The report also demonstrates the trade-off between the speed of the observer and the estimation error. To deal with the non-linear behavior of the utility boiler, the approach of linearization over selected operating range is considered. Observer for each operating range is designed. The resultant observer bank is tested over the entire operating range and conclusions are drawn for the real-time applications. |
