Model-Based Split-Range Algorithm for the Temperature Control of a Batch Reactor

摘要

In the manufacturing processes of high value-added products in the pharmaceutical, fine chemical polymer and food industry, insufficient control might produce off-grade products. This can cause significant financial losses, or in the pharmaceutical industry, it can result in an unusable batch. In these industries, batch reactors are commonly used, the control of which is essentially a problem of temperature control. In the industry, an increasing number of heating-cooling systems utilising three different temperature levels can be found, which are advantageous from an economic point of view. However, it makes the control more complicated. This paper presents a split-range designing technique using the model of the controlled system with the aim to design a split-range algorithm more specific to the actual sys- tem. The algorithm described provides high control performance when using it with classical PID-based cascade temperature control of jacketed batch reactors;however, it can be used with or as part of other types of controllers, for ex- ample, model-based temperature controllers. The algorithm can be used in the case of systems where only two as well as where three temperature levels are used for temperature control. Besides the switching between the modes of opera- tion and calculating the value of the manipulated variable, one of the most important functions of the split-range algo- rithm is to keep the sign of the gain of the controlled system unchanged. However, with a more system-specific split-range solution, not only can the sign of the gain be kept unchanged, but the gain can also be constant or less de- pendent on the state of the system. Using this solution, the design of the PID controller becomes simpler and can be implemented in existing systems without serious changes.