Adaptable Control Structure to Uncertainty Factors in a Tubular Reactor

Resumen: The design and evaluation of a variable control structure to regulate the outlet concentration of a tubular reactor, affected by disturbances in the feed, together with a variation in the activation energy parameter, is presented. In the tubular reactor, the o-xylene oxidation process is carried out for the production of phthalic anhydride. The control scheme used consists of a primary loop to regulate the concentration at the reactor outlet and two secondary loops to control the temperature at two different points along the reactor, the input signal in the secondary controller is a combination of two measurements multiplied by a weighting factor. The variable control structure was compared with conventional control schemes, evaluated face disturbances in the reactor feed together with a variation in activation energy, determining that the variable control scheme adapts to the disturbances present in the process, highlighting the dynamic adjustment the weighting factor and quick response of the cooling medium.

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Juan Hernández Espinosa, Galo R. Urrea-García, Guadalupe Luna Solano & Denis Cantú-Lozano. Adaptable Control Structure to Uncertainty Factors in a Tubular Reactor. Memorias del Congreso Nacional de Control Automático, pp. 1-6, 2020.

Palabras clave

Tubular reactor, hot spot, weighting factor, cooling medium, variable control

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