Model Predictive Control of a Conveyor-Based Drying Process Applied to Cork Stoppers

Control applications are a key aspect of current industrial environments. Regarding cork industries, there is a particular process that needs to be addressed: the cork stoppers drying. Currently the methodology used in this process delays the overall production cycle and lacks in the drying efficiency itself. This paper presents the development of a cork stopper drying system based on the control of a conveyor based machine using Model Predictive Control (MPC). Throughout the project it was also developed a drying kinetics model for the cork stoppers and an extension of such model to a discrete space state model. By applying the proposed methodology it is assured the cork stoppers’ drying in a faster and more efficient way.