Modeling of Flotation System in Coal Preparation Plant Based on RBF-Wiener Model

Flotation is one of the key processes in coal preparation, characterized by complex operating mechanisms and numerous influencing factors. Its nonlinearity and coupling characteristics pose significant challenges to the analysis and optimal control of the flotation process. This study presents a modeling method for the flotation system based on the RBF-Wiener model. Aiming at the nonlinear characteristics of the flotation process, the static nonlinear subsystem of the Wiener model is constructed using a radial basis function (RBF) network. Considering the potential instability arising from the selection of center points and widths in the RBF network, the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is employed to calculate these parameters. Subsequently, the nonlinear least squares method is employed to estimate the intermediate variable values, and the recursive least squares (RLS) method is then applied to identify the parameters of the linear subsystem in the Wiener model. Experimental comparison with traditional identification method, along with practical applications in the modeling and control of the flotation system in a coal preparation plant, indicate that this method effectively ensures the modeling accuracy of the flotation system, which in turn contributes to the improvement of its tracking control performance.