Application of an adaptive model predictive control algorithm on the Pelton turbine governor control

Traditionally, hydro turbine governor applications mainly rely on classical proportional–integral–derivative controllers. A classical controller can perform optimally only at the operating point chosen during the controller design. Since hydro power plants are highly non‐linear systems alternative control approaches based on adaptive parameters are needed. Historically, due to the limited computation capabilities of microprocessors and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) used in hydro turbine governors, adaptive control schemes were not frequently applied. However, the latest generation of microprocessors and PLCs facilitate the application of adaptive control scheme based on predictive control algorithm for plants with faster dynamic behaviour. In that regard, this study introduces an adaptive controller based on model predictive control (MPC) algorithm developed and applied to a non‐linear simulation model of a laboratory hydro power plant. The applied MPC algorithm is based on a linear prediction model whose parameters are identified offline for different operating points across the plant's operating range. The adaptive control scheme updates the prediction model parameters depending on the current operating point. Furthermore, the predictive control algorithm applied in this study is set up as a quadratic programming (QP) optimisation problem that is solved online using a QP solver in a form of Hildreth's algorithm.