A Smith-Like Active Disturbance Rejection Control Design for a Class of Overdamped Processes With Application to Low-Pressure Heater System

This article proposes a Smith-like active disturbance rejection control (SLADRC) for a class of overdamped processes composed of multiple first-order inertial components, where the idea of the SLADRC comes from Smith predictor. The design principle of SLADRC is presented and its stability analysis is carried out theoretically, where the estimation error of the designed extended state observer and the regulation error of the control law are both bound. For the convenience of engineering applications, this article also provides a simple and effective parameter-tuning method. The comparative simulations illustrate its advantages in tracking and disturbance rejection performance with satisfactory robustness. Finally, the proposed SLADRC is applied to a low-pressure heater system of a 660MW power plant successfully, where running data further verify its practical significance in industrial processes.