This paper describes the application of a model-based strategy for the supervisory temperature control of a 12 litres industrial pilot batch reactor. The reactor is equipped with a multi-fluid heating/cooling system. The automation of this type of heating/cooling system requires a supervisory control to handle automatically the utility fluids fed in to the reactor jacket as well as the intermediate air purge and the refilling after the changeover of the fluid. The objective is to obtain good control of the process even during transient operating conditions such as refilling of the jacket, which can not be neglected on industrial scale. The supervisory control is based on dynamic model of the reactor pilot-plant. Once the utility fluid being chosen by the supervisory routine, its flowrate is computed by a controller which is a Non-linear Model Predictive Control algorithm. Different experiments are presented in order to demonstrate the performances of the supervisory control of the pilot-plant reactor.
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