TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF SEMIBATCH POLYMERIZATION REACTORS

An industrial case study appropriate for process control studies is presented. The control problem focuses on the temperature control of a multiproduct semibatch polymerization reactor. Achieving good temperature control in these reactors is often difficult because physical properties of the contents, such as mass, heat capacity and heat transfer coefficient vary from run to run and within a run. Standard PID controllers are unable to perform satisfactorily over the entire range of operation required. Physical data and modeling equations are provided so that process control researchers may test various control strategies. This control problem is representative of those found in the speciality chemical processing industry.