Design of general multivariable process controllers is an attractive and practical alternative to optimizing design by evolutionary algorithms (EAs) since it can be formulated as an optimization problem. A closed-loop particle swarm optimization (CLPSO) algorithm is proposed by mapping PSO elements into the closed-loop system based on control theories. At each time step, a proportional integral (PI) controller is used to calculate an updated inertia weight for each particle in swarms from its last fitness. With this modification, limitations caused by a uniform inertia weight for the whole population are avoided, and the particles have enough diversity. After the effectiveness, efficiency and robustness are tested by benchmark functions, CLPSO is applied to design a multivariable proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller for a solvent dehydration tower in a chemical plant and has improved its performances.
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