Optimisation and control of an industrial surfactant reactor

This paper addresses a case study of an industrial semi-batch nonionic surfactant reactor, where improvements in the process controllability and process cycle times are accomplished through the use of advanced operation and control techniques. To achieve these outcomes the operating conditions need to be controlled at their optimal levels. This requires the search for optimum trajectories of the control variables. A model for the process was developed using the fundamental equations such as mass and energy balances, and the dynamic optimisation problem was established together with the operational constraints. The calculated optimization results show a 20% saving in reaction batch time. An operating regime model based (multi-model) strategy with Feed-forward compensation and the optimum set-point was implemented and tested. Simulations show that significant improvement in the control of the unit can be achieved in comparison with the existing feedback control. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.