In this paper, we discuss an improved version of the conventional PID (Proportional–Integral–Derivative) controller, the Dynamically Updated PID (DUPID) controller. The DUPID is a control solution which preserves the advantages of the PID controller and tends to improve them by introducing a quadratic error model in the PID control structure. The quadratic error model is constructed over a window of past error points. The objective is to use the model to give the conventional PID controller the awareness needed to battle the effects caused by the variation of the parameters. The quality of the predictions that the model is able to deliver depends on the appropriate selection of data used for its construction. In this regard, the paper discusses two algorithms, named 1D (one dimensional) and 2D (two dimensional) DUPID. Appropriate to their names, the former selects data based on one coordinate, whereas the latter selects the data based on two coordinates. Both these versions of the DUPID controller are compared to the conventional PID controller with respect to their capabilities of controlling a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) system with varying parameters in three different scenarios. As a quantifying measure of the control performance, the integral of absolute error (IAE) metric is used. The results from the performed simulations indicated that the two versions of the DUPID controller improved the control performance of the conventional PID controller in all scenarios.

This paper explores the energy-intensive cement industry, focusing on a plant in Greece and its mill and kiln unit. The data utilized include manipulated, non-manipulated, and uncontrolled variables. The non-manipulated variables are computed based on the machine learning (ML) models and selected by the minimum value of the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) across nine (9) methods. In case the distribution of the data displayed in the user interface changes, the user should trigger the retrain of the AI models to ensure their accuracy and robustness. To form the objective function, the expert user should define the desired weight for each manipulated or non-manipulated variable through the user interface (UI), along with its corresponding constraints or target value. The user selects the variables involved in the objective function based on the optimization strategy, and the evaluation is based on the comparison of the optimized and the active value of the objective function. The differential evolution (DE) method optimizes the objective function that is formed by the linear combination of the selected variables. The results indicate that using DE improves the operation of both the cement mill and kiln, yielding a lower objective function value compared to the current values.

The majority of the approaches to the fault detection in rotational machines assume constant and known operating conditions. These assumptions are often violated in practice. Therefore, in this paper we propose a set of features that can be utilized to reveal faults in gearboxes while being robust to fluctuations in operating speed and load. The proposed feature set comprises values of two information cost functions calculated from the coefficients of the wavelet packet transform accompanied by the maximal value of the spectral kurtosis. The fault detection capabilities of the proposed feature set were evaluated on a two-stage gearbox operating under different rotational speeds and loads with different types of mechanical faults.

The energy-intensive sector of the cement industry needs to find technologically advanced methods to produce cement with as little energy as possible, without polluting the environment and without sacrificing the quality (fineness) of the cement. In addition, the stress on the machines changes the behavior of the data. By combining the k-means method, two (2) feature selection methods, nine (9) machine learning methods, and the differential evolution (DE) method, a dynamic system is created where the user determines the key performance indicators (KPIs) each time. The user has the potential to control the distribution of the data, the input of machine learning models, and the ability to switch the system to the suggested values without damage. The selection of the best-performing models is based on the normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE). The DE method optimizes the dynamic objective function. The optimal values of the manipulated variables are evaluated compared to the value of the objective function from the actual values of the variables. In all experiments, the recommendations are acceptable. The final results show an improvement in the operation of both the cement mill and kiln compared to the current operating condition.