Optimal Control of a Distributed Parameter, Time-Lagged River Aeration System

Abstract

The control of artificial in-stream aeration of polluted rivers with multiple waste effluent sources is treated. The optimal feedback control law for this distributed parameter system is determined by solving the partial differential equations along characteristic lines. In this process the double integral cost functional of the distributed parameter system is reduced to a single integral cost. Because certain measurements are time consuming, the feedback control law is obtained in the presence of observation delay in some but not all of the system variables. The open loop optimal control is then found, showing explicity the effect of changes in any of the effluent sources on the aeration strategy. It is shown that the optimal strategy for a distribution of sources can be written as an affine transformation upon the optimal controls for sources of unit strength.