Rigorous Model-based Predictive Control (RMPC) is getting widely accepted in the glass industry as a promising new technology. First applications have been completed and these have demonstrated the benefits of the use of rigorous process models for process control. RMPC is applied to increase furnace and feeder stability and to improve transition behaviour. Stability of temperature distribution and flow pattern is essential for production at the highest possible yield. RMPC has demonstrated that reproducible and easy controlled production is possible as RMPC is able to anticipate the effects of measured disturbances through feed-forward corrections, it prevents large drifts from nominal operating conditions and is much faster in returning to nominal conditions than conventional PED controllers.
