On-line Estimation of Cane Fibre Rate Based on First Mill Mass Balance

This paper is concerned with estimating an important quantity in sugar cane milling known as fibre rate. Traditionally this variable can only be measured via a laboratory procedure since a suitable sensor does not exist. On-line knowledge of this variable is important so an estimate from a soft-sensor is useful for control and analysis purposes. We develop a Kalman filter based estimator to estimate this quantity using other measurable signals in conjunction with a mass balance model of the process. Tests based on full scale operational data have demonstrated the usefulness of this approach in practice.