Robust Control Based on Modeling Error Compensation of Microalgae Anaerobic Digestion

Abstract

Microalgae are used to produce renewable biofuels (biodiesel, bioethanol, biogas, and biohydrogen) and high-value-added products, as well as in bioremediation and CO2 sequestration tasks. In the case of anaerobic digestion of microalgae, biogas can be produced from mainly proteins and carbohydrates. Anaerobic digestion is a complex process that involves several stages and is susceptible to operational instability due to various factors. Robust controllers with simple structure and design are necessary for practical implementation purposes and to achieve a proper process operation despite process variabilities, uncertainties, and complex interactions. This paper presents the application of a control design based on the modeling error compensation technique for the anaerobic digestion of microalgae. The control design departs from a low-order input–output model by enhancement with uncertainty estimation. The results show that achieving desired organic pollution levels and methanogenic biomass concentrations as well as minimizing the effect of external perturbations on a benchmark case study of the anaerobic digestion of microalgae is possible with the proposed control design.