This paper examines the control problem of mass transport phenomena in thermal fluid systems. The system model considered here is described by the momentum, continuity, energy and mass transport equations. Receding horizon control is one of the most successful control methodologies because of its applicability to a wide range of applications. The objective in this study is to propose a design method of receding horizon controller for mass transport phenomena in thermal fluid systems. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.

Receding horizon control is a type of optimal feedback control in which control performance over a finite future is optimized with a performance index that has a moving initial time and terminal time. Spatiotemporal dynamic systems characterized by both spatial and temporal variables often occur in many research fields. In this study, we develop a novel design method of receding horizon control for a generalized class of spatiotemporal dynamic systems. Using the variational principle, we first derive the exact stationary conditions that must be satisfied for a performance index to be optimized. Next, we provide a numerical algorithm to solve the stationary conditions via a finite-dimensional approximation. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.