Robust Control Techniques Applied to the Hot-Dip Galvanizing Process
This paper presents new results to compute the time-delay margin of the hot-dip galvanizing control system. Compared to previous works on this issue, this paper considers a mathematical model of the plant with two inputs and one output. The inputs are used to regulate the output, which represents the Zinc mass coating of steel strip. To achieve this objective, a multivariable PI controller is used, this controller is tuned applying the well known Ziegler and Nichols method, and then the maximum time-delay is computed in order to guarantee the stability property of the close loop control system. The work bases its results on a transformation of the time-delay operator and it is performed in order to get a two variable polynomial; after this, to obtain the robust stability property, a result based on the Hurwitz matrix is applied.