Economic Model Predictive Control
Economic MPC optimizes a general performance objective directly rather than tracking a setpoint, driving the plant toward the best operating regime.
Beyond setpoint tracking
Standard model predictive control minimizes deviation from a precomputed setpoint. Economic MPC replaces that quadratic tracking cost with a general stage objective encoding whatever performance the operator actually cares about, expressed in physical or process terms. The controller optimizes this objective directly over the prediction horizon, so it may hold the plant away from any fixed setpoint if doing so serves the objective better.
Stability without tracking
Dropping the tracking cost complicates stability, because the objective is no longer a natural Lyapunov function. Two main tools restore guarantees. Dissipativity conditions ensure the best steady state is optimal on average, so closed-loop performance is no worse than the best steady operation. Terminal constraints or terminal costs anchored at the optimal steady state provide recursive feasibility and convergence. Under strict dissipativity the closed loop converges to the optimal steady state.
Transient value
A distinctive feature is that economic MPC can outperform the best steady state during transients by exploiting nonlinear dynamics, a phenomenon impossible for tracking controllers whose only goal is to reach the setpoint. This makes it attractive for processes where the objective is genuinely economic-physical, such as minimizing energy use or maximizing throughput, subject to constraints.
- Optimizes a general objective, not setpoint deviation
- May hold the plant off any fixed setpoint
- Dissipativity ensures optimal average performance
- Can beat the best steady state on transients
The optimization at each step is the same constrained problem as standard MPC, only the cost differs, so the computational machinery carries over. Robust and stochastic variants combine economic objectives with uncertainty handling.
For a design-stage plant such as a coolant or balance-of-plant loop, economic MPC would optimize a physical efficiency objective under safety constraints in simulation. Note that in this knowledge base economic refers to the control-theoretic objective, not to any monetary figures, which are outside scope.