A modified sliding mode control of a nonlinear methane fermentation process

Abstract

A continuous methane fermentation process for biogas production is considered. This biogas production process is described by a system of two nonlinear differential equations and one nonlinear algebraic equation. The paper purpose is to propose an approach for designing a modified sliding mode control (so-called binary control) of a nonlinear methane fermentation process. The control design is carried out with direct use of nonlinear model and on-line measurement for two variables only (the concentration of the organic pollutants and biogas production rate). The model of the sliding mode control is developed with respect to an auxiliary input variable in order to obtain the smooth signal of the dilution rate, which is need in the fermentation processes. The state variables, external disturbance, process output and control input are varied in the known intervals. The asymptotic output stabilization problem is solved. The good system robustness with the designed modified sliding mode control (the binary control) about various disturbances is proved through simulation investigations in MATLAB using Simulink.