Research

With Professor Dr. George Stephanopoulos, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Boston

Prof.Dr.M.Chidambaram , IIT Madras visit in MIT Manipal

Dr.J.Prakash visit to MIT, Manipal during AICTE-FDP 2019.

Shell and Tube heat exchanger is made inline with industrial setup available at Lab-2, ICE, MIT, Manipal

Utility
PhD(Full time) : 01 (Completed)
PG Project: 02
UG Project: 03

The conical tank system is a bench mark for
the nonlinear process.

The setup has been established in Lab-2,
Dept of ICE, MIT Manipal with the grant
from MAHE under Post Doc. Research and
Publication

PG and UG students has implemented various
advanced controllers like SMC, DMC, MPC,
Self-tuning controllers and validated the
controller efficiency.

The process is interfaced using USB DAQ with
MATLAB for analyzing the system.

Utility
PhD(Full time) : 01 (Ongoing)
PG Project: 03
UG Project: 04

Lab Scale Non-linear Batch Reactor.

Utility
PhD:
PG Project: 01(Completed) + 03(Ongoing)
UG Project: 02(Completed)

Custom made pilot plant Binary Distillation Column available at Lab-2, Dept. of Instrumentation and Control Engg, MIT, Manipal.

Objective is to separate the binary feed component given to
it. Highly interacting and nonlinear process in nature.

Manipulated variables are heater supply controlled by solid
state relay and reflux flow rate controlled by Peristaltic
pump. Interfaced with MATLAB using USB DAQ.

Algorithms validated:
Robust PID, DMC, MPC, GPC-PID, Conventional PID with
De-coupler designs.

Utility:
Ph.D (Full time): 2
Ph.D(Part time): 1
PG Students: 3
UG students: 6

ISRO funded project on "Design,
Simulation and Implementation of SMC
on Quadrotor UAV"

Utility
PhD: 2 students (Full time)

Awards & Publications

I feel the research in the area of Process Control is widely open with many challenging problems to be addressed. Energy conservation in the Distillation Column Control, Heat Exchangers, Batch Reactors are most common open problems to address. The modeling of industrial processes to the most accurate is the need of the hour. Chemical processes are highly nonlinear in nature. Capturing the nonlinear dynamics will improve the control loop performance in real time applications.

Completed & On-going Research Projects

“Investigation and Physical realization of 2DOF PID control with anti-reset windup for fast acting control loops”, Fast track for young scientist scheme, Dept. of Science and Technology, G.O.I., 2013-2016. – Status: Completed with excellent grade in the meeting held at IIT Madras during April 2017.
“Design, Simulation and Implementation of Sliding Mode Controller for a Nonlinear Process: Conical tank level control”, Manipal University Post-Doctoral Research and Publications grant, Jan2013-Dec 2014, Status: Completed.
“Kinetics Modeling and design of advanced nonlinear control algorithms for a pilot plant batch reactor”, MAHE(IoE) Seed money grant, Jan 2020-Dec 2021, Status: On-Going.
“Design and Implementation of SMC controller for a Quadrotor”, ISRO, G.O.I, July 2019-July 2022. Status: On-Going

Ph.D Guidance

S.No	Name	Title	Duration	Examiner
1	Dr.Vinayambika.S.Bhat (Full time)	Design and Validation of Robust Controller for Binary Distillation Column	27^th Dec 2014 – March 2018. Thesis submitted (MAHE) on 27^th March 2018 VIVA VOCE held on 25^th August 2018	Dr.A.Ramakalyan Professor, Instrumentation and Control Engg., NIT Trichy
2	Dr.Cyril Joseph (Part time)	Controller Synthesis for Complementarity Hybrid Dynamical System	Thesis submitted (MAHE) in April 2018. VIVA VOCE held on 19^th Oct. 2018	Dr.G.N.Pillai Professor EE, IIT-Rourke
3.	Mr.Sarath Yadav (Full time)	Design, Implementation and Validation of Control Schemes on the Batch Distillation Column	16^th July 2016 – March 2020 Thesis submitted (MAHE) on 7^th May 2020. VIVA VOCE Held On 5^th Aug 2020	Dr.M.Chidambaram Emeritus Professor-Chemical Engg NIT Warangal Ex-Director, NIT Trichy Ex-Prof & Head, Chemical Engg., IIT Madras
4	R.Janani (Part time)	Design and Implementation Of Multivariable PI Controller for a Pressure Control in Pilot Plant Binary Distillation Column	Feb 2014-March 2020. Thesis submitted to SCSVMV Deemed University, Kanchipuram, May 2020.
5	Mrs.Tinu Valsa Paul	Model Validation and Design of Robust Controller for Nonlinear Dynamics of Quadrotor.	Jan 2020 –
6	Mr.Suraj Suresh Kumar	DESIGN AND SIMULATION OF NONLINEAR CONTROL ALGORITHMS FOR A MICRO AERIAL VEHICLE	Sep 2020 –

DAQ card for real-time interface with Simulink and M-File

Automation for Advanced Process Station

SCADA development for the Batch Reactor and interfacing with YOKOGAWA Centum DCS is in process. Analog signals of 4-20mA need to be connected with PLC. Ethernet connection will be established b/w PLC and DCS.

Remote monitoring and control can be experienced

Research Activity:

PhD, PG and UG students are working in the area of nonlinear model identification using ARX, NARX, GPC based PID controller design for the chemical processes. Students are validating the designed, simulated control algorithms on various pilot plants available in Lab-2 using MATLAB platform. The pilot plant sensors and actuator signals are interfaced to higher end PC using VDPID-03 DAQ, NI 6008 DAQ, etc.

Students are getting hands-on experience in handling Simulink and m-file codes to implement the control algorithms.

Students who are self-motivated/ interested to engage with technical activities in control and automation can approach. Presently I am looking for students to get involved in neural network based nonlinear model identification and control projects with real time applications.

Prerequisites

Motivated towards technical works / hardware implementation.
Coding skills (Basic/Medium)
Mathematical concepts.

Eligibility

B.Tech / M.Tech students ICE/EIE/ECE/EEE/ CSE/IT can work on identification and control algorithm developments in MATLAB® simulation environment / Implementation.
B.Tech/ M.Tech in Chemical/Bio-Tech can also work with the mass transfer / heat transfer concepts with pilot plant chemical process / batch reactor.

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