Proceedings of the 2007 American Control Conference
5
Marriott Marquis Hotel at Times Square
New York City, USA, July 11-13, 2007
Hybrid Control of a Supermarket Refrigeration Systems
Daniel Sarabia, Flavio Capraro, Lars F. S. Larsen, and César de Prada
Abstract—This paper presents a non-linear model predictive
control (NMPC) of a supermarket refrigeration system. This is
a hybrid process involving switching nonlinear dynamics and
discrete events, on/off manipulated variables, like valves and
compressors, continuous controlled variables like goods
temperatures and finally, several operation constraints. The
hybrid controller is based on a parameterization of the on/off
control signals in terms of time of occurrence of events instead
of using directly binary values, on this way, we can re-
formulate the optimization problem as a NLP problem. A
rigorous model of a real supermarket refrigeration system
provided by Danfoss is presented as well as results of the
hybrid controller operating on it. The paper describes the
hybrid process, presents the control problem formulation and
provides some results of the proposed approach and
comparisons with the traditional control.
I. INTRODUCTION
A supermarket refrigeration system consists of a central
compressor bank that, besides other process units,
maintains the required flow of refrigerant to several
refrigerated display cases located in the supermarket sales
area. Each display case operates with an inlet on/off
refrigerant valve to keep the air temperature in the display
case within a range, in order to ensure a high quality of the
goods.
For many years, the control of supermarket refrigeration
systems has been based on standard control systems. In
particular, each display case is equipped with an
independent hysteresis controller that regulates the air
temperature in it by manipulating the inlet valve. The major
drawback, however, is that the control loops are vulnerable
to self-inflicted disturbances caused by the interaction
between the distributed control loops.
Manuscript received September 22, 2006. This work was supported in
part by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (former MYCT)
through project DPI2003-0013, as well as the European Commission
through VI FP NoE HYCON, Contract no.: 511368.
D. S. is with the Department of Systems Engineering and Automatic
Control, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, c/ Real de Burgos s/n, 47011,
Spain (phone: 34-983-423162; fax: 34-983-423161; e-mail:
dsarabia@autom.uva.es).
F. C. is with Instituto de Automática (INAUT), Universidad Nacional de
San Juan, Avda. San Martín 1109 (oeste), 5400, San Juan, Argentina (e-
mail: fcapraro@inaut.unsj.edu.ar).
L. F. S. L. Author is with Central R&D – RA – DP, Danfoss A/S,
Nordborg, Denmark (e-mail: lars.larsen@danfoss.com).
C. P. is with the Department of Systems Engineering and Automatic
Control, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, c/ Real de Burgos s/n, 47011,
Spain (e-mail: prada@autom.uva.es).
1-4244-0989-6/07/$25.00 ©2007 IEEE.
ThC20.
In particular, practice and simulations show that the
distributed hysteresis controllers have the tendency to
synchronize [1] and [2], meaning that the opening and
closing actions of the valves coincide. Consequently, the
compressor periodically has to work harder to keep up the
required flow of refrigerant, which results in low efficiency,
inferior control performance and a higher wear.
The use of other control techniques, such as MPC, is
significantly complicated by the fact that many of the
control inputs are restricted to integer values, such as the
opening/closing of the inlet valves and the on/off of the
compressors. Furthermore, the system features switched non
linear dynamics, including also slow and fast dynamics and
several constraints on controlled variables. As a result,
classical control does not fit very well with the overall
operation of this kind of process and other approaches must
be considered.
These processes that involves continuous as well as on/off
variables and certain logic of operation can be formulated as
hybrid systems where continuous variables are represented
by real variables and the logic and on/off variables can be
converted into binary variables in a set of inequalities, using
for example the Mixed Logical Dynamical (MLD)
framework [3]. This leads, in the context of Model
Predictive Control (MPC), to a mixed integer optimization
problem that must be solved every sampling time, see, for
instance, [4] and [2]. This kind of formulation in the discrete
time domain using linear models allows for a systematic
controller design, but in practice, due to the high
dimensionality of the problem, except in a limited number of
cases, it is not possible to solve the associated MILP or
MIQP optimization problem on-line. Additionally, linear
models may not provide an adequate representation of the
non-linear dynamics that takes place in refrigeration systems
which convert the optimization problem in a MINLP one,
not suitable for real-time control.
This paper presents an alternative approach of the hybrid
controller where the on/off actions are formulated in terms
of time instants of occurrence of events, instead of as binary
values on each sampling time. In contrast with conventional
MPC, the non-linear internal model of the controller is
described in continuous time and includes the logic of
operation. This approach has the advantage that all decision
variables are of real type, which means that the associated
optimization problem is NLP and can solve this kind of
non-linear hybrid problems more efficiently.
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The controller uses the framework of non-linear model
predictive control, using a nonlinear continuous-time model
to make the predictions and calculating the control actions
by means of an optimization problem solved on-line every
sample time.
The paper is organized as follows: In section II the
process is described while section III presents the nonlinear
model obtained from first principles. Section IV gives an
overview of the traditional control systems of supermarket
refrigeration systems and section V and VI describe the
control objectives and the hybrid model predictive control
respectively. Results of some test for evaluation of the
proposed approach are given in section VII showing the
process response to setpoint changes, disturbances, etc.
Finally, the paper ends with some conclusions and
references.
II. SUPERMARKET REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS.
In a typical supermarket, some of the goods need to be
refrigerated to ensure preservation for consumption. These
goods are normally placed in open refrigerated display cases
that are located in the sales area for self service.
A simplified supermarket refrigeration circuit with two
display cases is shown in Fig. 1. The heart of the system is
the compressor rack, which consist of a number of
compressors connected in parallel. They supply the flow of
refrigerant to the system by compressing the low pressure
refrigerant from the suction manifold, which receives the
vapors returning from the display cases. The compressors
keep a certain constant pressure in the suction manifold, thus
ensuring the desired evaporation temperature. From the
compressors, the refrigerant flows to the condenser and
further on to the liquid manifold. The evaporators inside the
display cases are fed in parallel from the liquid manifold
through an expansion valve. The outlets of the evaporators
lead to the suction manifold and back to the compressors
thus closing the circuit.
Fig. 1. A simplified layout of a supermarket refrigeration system.
In Fig. 2, a cross section of an open display case is
depicted. The refrigerant is led into the evaporator located at
the bottom of the display case, where the refrigerant
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evaporates while absorbing heat from the surrounding air
circulating through the evaporator. The resulting air flow
creates an air-curtain at the front of the display case. The
fact that the air-curtain is colder than the goods leads to a
heat transfer from the goods Qgoods-air and (as a side effect)
from the surrounding Qairload to the air-curtain. Inside the
display cases, a temperature sensor is located, which
measures the air temperature Tair close to the goods. This
temperature measurement is used in the control loop as an
indirect measure of the goods’ temperature Tgoods.
Furthermore, an on/off inlet valve is located at the
refrigerant inlet of the evaporator, which is used to control
the temperature in the display case.
Fig. 2. Cross section of a refrigerated display case.
III. NONLINEAR CONTINUOUS-TIME MODEL
In this section, the main features of the nonlinear
continuous-time model are presented. More details can be
found in [1]. The model of the supermarket refrigeration
system is composed of individual models for the display
cases, the suction manifold, the compressor rack and the
condensing unit. The main emphasis in the modeling is laid
on the suction manifold and the display cases which contain
the most relevant dynamics for controlling the display cases.
A. The Display Cases
The dynamic in each the display case i can be described
by three states: the goods temperature (Tgoods,i), the
temperature of the evaporator wall (Twall,i) and the mass of
liquefied refrigerant in the evaporator (Mref,i). The model of
the display cases encompasses three parts, namely: the
goods, the evaporator and the air-curtain in between (see
Fig. 2). By setting up the energy balance for the goods and
the evaporator, the following two state equations can be
derived, assuming a lumped temperature model.
dTgoods ,i UAgoods − air
dt
=−
M goods ,i Cp goods ,i
(T goods , i − Tair ,i ) (1)
 ThC20.5

dTwall ,i enthalpy which is a nonlinear function of the suction

=
UAair − wall
(Tair ,i − Twall ,i ) pressure and the superheat Tsh.
dt M wall Cp wall
(2)
UAwall − ref ,i ( M ref ,i )
− (T
wall , i − Te,i ) ⎧ Qe,i
if u disp ,i = 1
M wall Cp wall ⎪ −
⎪h hie
f i = ⎨ oe (6)
Qe,i
where UA is the heat transfer coefficient with the subscript ⎪ if u disp ,i = 0
denoting the media between which the heat is transferred, ⎩⎪ Δhlg
M denotes the mass, and Cp the heat capacity, where the
subscript also denotes the media (wall, air and refrigerant Finally, the air temperature (Tair,i) for each display case i can
“ref”) the parameter refers to. Moreover, Te is the be found by setting up an energy balance for the air-curtain.
evaporation temperature. Te(Pe) is a refrigerant dependent
function of the evaporation pressure Pe Assuming that there Qairload + Tgoods ,iUAgoods − air + Twall ,iUAair − wall
Tair ,i = (7)
are no pressure drop in the suction line, the suction pressure (UA goods − air + UAair − wall )
Psuc is equal to the evaporation pressure (Pe,i = Psuc). As
indicated in (2), the heat transfer coefficient between the
where Qairload is a given external heat load on the air- curtain
refrigerant and the evaporator wall (UAwall-ref,i) is a function
of the mass (Mref,i) of the liquefied refrigerant in the and it is assumed equal for all display cases.
evaporator i. It is assumed here that this relation can be B. The Suction Manifold
described by the following linear function: The dynamic in the suction manifold is modelled by one
state, namely the suction pressure (Psuc). Setting up the mass
M ref ,i
UAwall − ref ,i ( M ref ,i ) = UAwall − refrig,max (3) balance, and assuming an ideal gas, the corresponding state
M ref,max equation is obtained:

where Mref,i = Mref,max when the evaporator is completely dPsuc hin − suc f in − suc − hout − suc Fcomp ρ suc
=R (8)
filled with liquid refrigerant. The accumulation of dt CvVsuc
refrigerant in the evaporator is described by equation (4)
where Vsuc is the total volume of the suction manifold, Fcomp
⎧ 0 if u disp ,i = 1 is the volume flow out of the suction manifold determined
dM ref ,i ⎪
⎪ Q by the compressors, f in − suc = ∑i =1 f i is the total mass flow
nd
= ⎨− e if u disp ,i = 0 and M ref ,i > 0 (4)
dt ⎪ Δhlg from the display cases to the suction manifold,
⎪⎩ 0 if u disp ,i = 0 and M ref ,i = 0
hin − suc = ∑i =1 f i hoe is the inlet enthalpy to the suction
nd

where Δhlg is the specific latent heat of the remaining
liquefied refrigerant in the evaporator, which is a nonlinear
function of the suction pressure. Qe,i is the cooling capacity
which can be found by setting up the energy balance for the
evaporator:
Qe,i = (Twall ,i − Te )UAwall − ref ,i ( M ref ,i )
The amount of liquid refrigerant in the evaporator Mref,i
follows a switched nonlinear dynamic governed by (4). It is
assumed that the evaporator i is filled instantaneously when
the valve i is opened (udisp,i = 1). Furthermore, when the
valve is closed (udisp,i = 0) and all of the enclosed refrigerant
has evaporated (Mref,i = 0), then dMref,i/dt = 0. So, the on/off
manipulated variables are udisp,i (i=1,2,..., nd), where nd is
the total number of display cases.
When the refrigerant leaves the evaporator it flows on to
the suction manifold. The mass flow fi out of the evaporator
is given by equation (6). Where hie is the inlet enthalpy
which is a nonlinear refrigerant specific function of the
condensing pressure and the subcooling and hoe is the outlet
manifold which is a refrigerant specific non linear function
of Psuc and the superheat Tsh, nd is the total number of
display cases, and fi is the mass flow of the refrigerant out of
the i’th display case. fi is determined by position of the valve
and the amount of enclosed refrigerant when the valve is
closed, given by (6). ρsuc is the density of the refrigerant in
(5) the suction manifold, which is a non-linear refrigerant
dependent function of the suction pressure and the superheat
in the manifold. hout-suc is assumed equal to hoe, the specific
enthalpy at the outlet of the evaporator.
C. The Compressor
In most refrigeration systems, the compressor capacity is
discrete-valued, as compressors can be switched only either
on or off. Let nc denote the total number of compressors.
The compressor bank is modeled using a constant
volumetric efficiency ηvol and the maximal displacement
volume Vsl. Thus, the volume flow Fcomp,i out of the suction
manifold created by the i’th compressor can be determined
by (9) where Ccomp,i is the i’th compressor capacity

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( ∑i =1 C comp ,i = 100 ), and Fcomp = ∑i =1 Fcomp ,i is the total very similar switching frequencies. Therefore, the valves
nc nc

have a tendency to synchronize leading to periodic high and

volume flow, finally ucomp,i is the on/off manipulated low flow of evaporated refrigerant into the suction manifold
variable associated with each compressor i (i=1,2,..., nc). thus creating large variations in the suction pressure and a
high wear on the compressors. These effects are displayed in
1
Fcomp ,i = u comp ,i C comp ,i η volVsl i = 1, 2,....., nc (9) the Fig 3 a) and 3 b).
100 The suction pressure controller is normally a
D. Refrigerant Properties Proportional-Integrator controller (PI-controller) with a dead
In the model described before, a number of refrigerant band (±DB) around the reference of the suction pressure.
depended properties are used: Te, Δhlg, hie, hoe and ρsuc. These
properties can be computed by using the freeware software
package “RefEqns” [5] available for language C, C++,
Matlab and others. The corresponding libraries in C,
RefrigC.lib and RefrigC.dll, have been incorporated in our
simulation of the process. Table I shows the functions used
to calculate these properties. For a more detailed description
of these thermodynamics properties, and the explanation of
the vapor compression cycle in a h-log(p) diagram, see [1].

TABLE I
REFRIGERANT DEPENDED PROPERTIES
Property Property
Te = TBubP(Psuc) hoe = HTP(Te+Tsh,Psuc)
Δhlg = RT(Te+273.15) ρsuc = 1/VTP(Te+ Tsh,Psuc)

IV. TRADITIONAL CONTROL

The control systems used in today’s supermarket
refrigeration systems are decentralized, as previously
mentioned. Each of the display cases is equipped with a
temperature controller and a superheat controller that
controls the filling level of the evaporator. The compressor
rack is equipped with a suction pressure controller.
Furthermore, the condenser is equipped with a condensation Fig. 3. a) Effects of synchronization on air temperature using traditional
pressure controller, and on top, various kinds of supervisory control. b) The effect of this synchronization in the suction pressure and c)
controllers may be used to help adjusting the set-points. The compressor capacity. The simulation of 180 min. has been made for
two display cases and two compressors with the same capacity 50%.
The Tair in the display cases are controlled by a hysteresis
controller that opens and closes the inlet valve. This means
V. CONTROL PROBLEM
that when Tair reaches a certain upper temperature bound
max The control challenge of the supermarket refrigeration
( Tair ) the valve is opened and Tair decreases until the lower
system is to development an efficient and optimal control
temperature bound ( Tairmin ) is reached and the valve is closed strategy that presents better performance than the traditional
again. When the valve is closed, the air temperature control presented in section IV.
continues to decrease below the lower bound creating an The controlled variables are, respectively, the suction
“undershoot”. This is caused by two things: First, the pressure Psuc and the air temperature Tair,i in each display
remaining refrigerant contained in the evaporator case (i=1,..., nd). They are measured as indicated in Fig. 1.
evaporates, and secondly, the thermal capacity of the The on/off manipulated variables are the start/stop of
evaporator wall adds an extra order to the system dynamics, compressors (ucomp,i ∀ i=1,..., nc) and the opening/closing of
see Fig. 3 a), where Tairmax = 5º C and Tairmin = 0º C . This the inlet valves (udisp,i ∀ i=1,..., nd).
The non measured disturbances are the heat load on the
figure depicts a simulation result with the traditional control
display cases (Qairload) and the variation of mass of goods
setup on a system with two display cases and two
(Mgoods,i) inside the display cases.
compressors.
The goods temperature Tgoods,i in each display case are non
In the supermarket, many of the display cases are alike in
measured variables that are controlled indirectly using the
design and they are working under uniform conditions. As a
air temperature .
result, the inlet valves of the display cases are switched with

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Several constraints apply on suction pressure Psuc and on
air temperatures Tair,i.
VI. HYBRID MPC
A natural approach to many decision problems is Model
Predictive Control (MPC): An internal model of the process
is used to predict the future controlled variables behavior as
a function of the present and future control actions, which
are selected in order to minimize some performance index or
cost function. The optimal control signals corresponding to
the present time are applied to the process and the whole
procedure is repeated in the next sampling period.
In our case, the performance index to be minimized
(according to the control objectives describe in section V) is
the function
T ⎛ nd
J = ∫ ⎜⎜ α 1 ( Psuc − Psuc ) + ∑ α 1+ i (Tair ,i − Tairref,i ) 2 ⎟⎟ dt
ref 2
p
0
⎝ i =1
ref
where Psuc and Tairref,i are the set points of the controlled
variables (suction pressure and temperatures of each display
case i), αi (i=1,...,1+nd) are appropriate weight factors and
Tp is the prediction time. Moreover, besides the internal
model, several constraints can be taken into account as the
ones imposed by the range of the controlled and
manipulated variables:
min
Psuc ≤ Psuc ≤ Psuc
max
Tairmin,i ≤ Tair ,i ≤ Tairmax,i ∀ i = 1,..., nd
u i ∈ {0,1} ∀ i = 1,..., nd , nd + 1,..., nd + nc
In the following, for simplicity, we will unify udisp,i and
ucomp,i into a single variable ui, with i ranging from 1 to
nd+nc, so that the first nd variables are associated with the
display cases, and the second nc variables are associated
with the compressors.
A. The Internal Model
The internal model used in the MPC controller is similar
to the continuous one based on first principles presented in
section III. However, it is formulated in a different way.
Notice that, in (10), the manipulated variables ui are
integers, that correspond to the opening/closing of the valves
in each display case udisp,i(t) and the start/stop of each
compressor ucomp,i(t) at every sampling time in the control
horizon. The optimization of (10) implies then solving a
MINLP optimization problem every sampling time which is
not possible in real time. Nevertheless, we can avoid the use
of these integer variables by means of a new
parameterization converting the integer decision variables
into real decision ones that correspond to the time instants of
the switching. This approach allows using conventional non
ThC20.5
linear optimization techniques (in terms on real variables)
instead of mixed-integer non linear programming,
decreasing the complexity of the optimization procedure and
saving computation time.
u 1(t) pulse 1 pulse 2 pulse k
1
0
off on
···
T1 off1 T1 on1 T 2off1 T2on1 ··· Tkoff1 Tkon1
Fig. 4. Parameterization of integer decision variable u1(t). Definition of the
pulse and the new real decision variables Tkon1 and Tkoff1 along the time.
The parameterization consists on define two new real
⎞ variables Tkon,i(t) and Tkoff,i(t) (k∈ℕ ) for each integer
(10)
⎠ manipulated variable ui (i=1, ...,nd, nd+1, ..., nd+nc). Tkon,i
and Tkoff,i denote the duration of the integer variable ui when
this variable is one and when it is zero respectively in each
pulse k, see Fig. 4. The times Tkon,i and Tkoff,i are unknown
variables that must be estimated along the prediction
horizon.
B. Predictions and Control Horizons
The prediction horizon (N2) in MPC corresponds to the
future time interval used to compute predictions with the
internal model. In standard MPC, it is chosen longer than the
process settling time. Notice that, in our framework of
(11) on/off manipulated variables, the process will never settle in
a stationary point, but will oscillate eventually reaching a
(12) stable operational pattern. So, instead, the prediction horizon
will be translated into Np, number of pulses of the slower
integer manipulated variable ui, assumed to be required for
obtaining a stable operational pattern. This means that, in
order to compute the cost function (10), the internal model
will be integrated until the slowest train of pulses completes
Np pulses. Notice that each integer manipulated variable can
perform a different number of pulses in the same period of
time Tp.
Fig. 5 displays an example with two integer variables u1
and u2 and Np=4 where the prediction horizon is the time
needed by u2 to implement four full pulses. We can observe,
that u1 makes more pulses (5 pulses).
The concept of control horizon (Nu) in continuous MPC
corresponds to the time interval where present and future
control actions are computed. After Nu sampling times, the
controller maintains the last control signal computed at Nu
until the end of the prediction horizon N2 in order to
compute the output predictions. In the hybrid environment,
the control horizon Nb,i corresponds to the number of pulses
of each manipulated variable ui for which the controller
compute the decision variables Tkon,i and Tkoff,i, (on and off
periods of every pulse (k=1,2,3,…)). From the pulse number
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Nb,i until the end of the prediction horizon Tp, the values of
the decision variables Tkon,i and Tkoff,i will be taken equal to
the ones of the pulse Nb,i, so, the schedule of ui will be
forced to follow the pattern of the Nb,i pulse, assuming that
the system should reach a stationary schedule, in a similar
way to how the future control signals are treated in
continuous MPC.
In the example considered in Fig. 5, The variable u1 has
Nb,1=1, so, only the times T1on,1 and T1off,1, that correspond to
the first pulse will be computed and the same pattern will be
applied in the following ones, that is to say, Tkon,1 = T1on,1
and Tkoff,1 = T1off,1 ∀ k > Nb,1 = 1. For u2 has been assigned
Nb,2=2, so, the controller compute T1on,2, T1off,2, T2on,2 and
T2off,2 and from the second pulse on, follow the pattern
defined by the last T2on,2 and T2off,2 times computed, so Tkon,2
= T2on,2 and Tkoff,2 = T2off,2 ∀ k > Nb,2 = 2.
u1(t) pulse 1 pulse 2 pulse 3
1 programmed in C++.
0
(implemented in a commercial library NAG for C) using a
schematic like the one of Fig. 6, that corresponds to a
sequential approach where the cost function J (10) is
computed by integration of the dynamical internal model
(1)-(9).
The simulation package integrates the internal model
equations along the prediction horizon Np taking as initial
conditions the current process state and evaluating the
formulated cost function J at the end of the integration. The
internal model was simulated using the EcosimPro
simulation language [7] which allows combining DAE
(Differential Algebraically Equations) with events, while
performing a correct integration in spite of the model
discontinuities. It belongs to the category of the so called
“modeling languages” that are object oriented, allows an
easy re-use of the components and generates automatically
C++ code corresponding to the simulation. This code of the
pulse 4 pulse 5 internal model is embedded in the controller, which has been

T1off1 T1on1 T2off1 T2on1 ··· T5off1 T5on1 CONTROLLER

Setpoints
Nb1=1 Simulator Package

u2(t) pulse 1 pulse 2 pulse 3 pulse 4 Internal model: Objective Function

DAE equations to minimize
1

0 Tkon,i Tkoff,i J (14)

(10)

Converter
Tkon,i Tkoff,i ui(t) y(t)
T1on2 T1off2 T2on2 T2off2 ··· T4on2 T4off2
Constraints Non-linear Optimizer
min J
Process
Nb2=2 Np=4 (15) (17)
(11) (13)

Start prediction End prediction

Fig. 6. Non-linear MPC controller implementation.
Fig. 5. Prediction (Np) and control horizons (Nb1, Nb2) for integer variables
u1 and u2 in hybrid MPC.
From a technical point of view, it is necessary to add a
C. NMPC Controller real/discrete converter between the controller and the
The aim of the hybrid MPC is to minimize (10) under the process. Hybrid MPC calculates the exact time instants Tkon,i
dynamics (1)-(9), static constraints (11) with respect to the and Tkoff,i of changes for each on/off manipulated variable,
decision variables Tkon,i and Tkoff,i (k=1,..., Nb,i and i=1,.., nd, and the converter transform these times in a discrete
nd+1,..., nd+nc) corresponding to the periods when every manipulated signal ui, when the events will occur. That is,
integer manipulated variable ui have to be on and off the application of the on/off signals is decoupled from the
respectively along the control horizons. The optimization sampling time.
∑i 1
nd + nc
problem involves =
2 × N b ,i number of real decision
VII. SIMULATIONS AND CONTROL RESULTS
variables that are subjected to lower and upper limits:
The process model described in section III has been
T min
≤ Ton ,i ≤ T max simulated and tested using also the simulation language
on , i on , i
∀ i = 1,..., nd , nd + 1,..., nd + nc (13) EcosimPro. To illustrate the behavior and performance of
T min
≤ Toff ,i ≤ T max
off , i off , i the hybrid MPC, we have made an experiments of 24 hours
(86400 sec., from 0:00 to 24:00) of simulation of a
In our approach, the path constraints (11) are not supermarket refrigeration system. This supermarket is
included explicitly in the optimization problem, but, they are composed by two compressor (with the same capacity
considered in the cost function (10), when we penalize the Ccomp,1=Ccomp,2=50%) and two equally sized display cases.
error between references and controlled variables. All terms We have strong non-measured disturbances on external
in the cost function are normalized. heat load (Qairload), being great when the supermarket is open
The resulting optimization problem is solved periodically, (from 9:00 to 21:00) and more people are present in the
with a given sampling period using an SQP algorithm [6] sales area, see Fig. 7. When the supermarket opens (at 9:00)

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and at the beginning of the evening (at 13:00), the display the prediction horizon was fixed in Np=3, which corresponds
cases are loaded with 400 Kg of goods at 3ºC of to predictions of around half an hour (1800 sec.), and the
temperature, see Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. The mass of goods in control horizons for every manipulated integer variable were
both display cases follow different patterns along the day, selected as Nb,1=Nb,2=Nb,3,=Nb,4=2. So the optimization
see Fig. 7. The nominal values for these disturbances are problem has 16 decision variables. Finally, the control
Qairload=900 J/s and Mgoods,1=Mgoods,2=400 Kg. Notice that, parameters (setpoints and maximum, minimum values
the internal model uses always these constant values to make permitted for controlled and decision variables) and weights
the predictions because they are nor measured. On the other αi in cost function (10) are given in Table. III.
hand, at the beginning of each prediction, the internal model
TABLE III
fix in 3ºC the initial value for the non measured states, the CONTROL PARAMETERS OF HYBRID MPC
temperature of goods (Tgoods,1 and Tgoods,2). The heat capacity Psuc T Ton,i (s) Toff,I (s) Ton,i (s) Toff,i
Tair,1 (ºC) air,2
of the goods are equal in both display cases (bar) (ºC) (s)
(Cpgoods,1=Cpgoods,2=1000 J/(Kg K)). Other parameters values valves compressors
maximum 4.4 4 4 100 600 600 600
and constants used in the non linear model are shown in minimum 4.0 0 0 10 100 60 60
Table II. setpoint 4.2 2 2 - - - -
weight 1 1 1 - - - -

Zoom (from 6:00 to 9:00)

Open supermarket (from 9:00 to 21:00)
The evolution of the controlled variables, suction pressure
and air temperatures and its limits are shown in Fig. 9. We
can observe the good behavior and small range of these
variables in presence of disturbances, being always within
the imposed limits. The temperature of goods (the non
measured states), which are actually the real variables to be
controlled, are around 2ºC (the set point for both air
temperatures), see Fig. 8.

Fig. 7. Non-measured disturbances: the external heat load, and the amount
of goods in each display case.

Zoom (from 6:00 to 9:00)

Open supermarket (from 9:00 to 21:00)

Fig. 9. Controlled variables, suction pressure and air temperature in both

Fig. 8. Non-measured state, the temperature of goods in each display case. display cases. The upper and lower limits of these variables are also shown.

TABLE II A zoom of 180 min. (from 6:00 to 9:00) of the simulation

PARAMETERS VALUES FOR THE NONLINEAR MODEL
in the nominal case for disturbances is display in Fig. 10.
Component Parameter Value Parameter Value
Display UAgoods-air 60 [W/K] Mwall 180 [Kg]
We can compare these results with the traditional control
case UAair-wall 360 [W/K] Mref,max 0.6 [Kg] ones in the same conditions (see Fig. 3), and we can view
UAwall-ref,max 900 [W/K] τfil 40 [sec] the drastic decrease of amplitude of the oscillations of all
Cp,wall 385 [J/(Kg K)] Tsh 10 [K] variables and what is more important, that the
Suction Vsuc 5 [m3] R 85 [J/(KgK)]
manifold Cv 649 [J/(Kg K)] hie 209661.5 [] synchronization effect on air temperature never occurs (see
Compressor Vsl 6 [m3/h] η 0.8 Fig. 10 lower graph).
Refrigerant Thermo dynamical properties of R404a Fig. 11 shows the manipulated on/off variables:
opening/closing the valves and star/stop the compressors
Regarding the controller, sampling time was set at 60 sec., from 6:00 to 9:00 (for the nominal conditions). We can see

4184

the perfect periodicity in all signals. This is a direct effect
produced by the policy used to force repeated pulses at the
end of the predictions (see section VI B). In this approach,
we need to make more starts/stops of the compressors than
the traditional case, but also, we can observe that
compressors never work at the same time, so, for this
supermarket and for the control objectives presented before,
it is possible use only one compressor.
Fig. 10. A zoom of the controlled variables, suction pressure and air
temperature in both display cases corresponding with a 180 min. of
simulation in nominal conditions (from 6:00 to 9:00).
Fig. 11. A zoom of the manipulated variables, valves and compressors
corresponding with a 180 min. of simulation in nominal conditions.
VIII. CONCLUSION
The control approach followed in this paper presents good
results on a realistic simulation under disturbances of a
supermarket refrigeration systems consisting in two display
cases and two compressors. In this approach, to add more
devices (display cases or compressors) implies an increase
on the decision variables but not in an exponential form (like
in MPC with MLD models and integer decision variables,
4185
ThC20.5
see [2]), making possible the implementation of this
controller to larger refrigeration systems. Another advantage
is the decoupled of the manipulated variables from the
sampling time, this leads to the possibility to increase the
sampling time, but the control signals are always applied in
it corresponding exact instant calculated by the hybrid
controller. However, for future works it is interesting try to
decrease the time consumed by the optimization algorithm to
find the minimum. In our approach this time is around 40
seconds every sampling time (we have a sampling time of
60 seconds) but a MPC implementation with MLD models,
see [2], the optimization procedure needs only 9.7 seconds
to find the minimum. The differences between both
procedures are very significantly. On the other hand, in our
approach, the start/stop of the compressors is very
frequently, because, we are assuming and imposing that all
manipulated variables follow a periodical behavior. For the
compressors this can not be a desired behavior, and it is
important to investigate and try to improve this result, in
order to minimize these switching times.
REFERENCES
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