Physical property control for a batch polymerization reactor

  • Kim, In-Sun (Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Seoul National University) ;
  • Ahn, Sung-Mo (Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Seoul National University) ;
  • Rhee, Hyun-Ku (Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Seoul National University)
  • Published : 1996.10.01

Abstract

A method to determine an optimal temperature trajectory that guarantees polymer products having controlled molecular weight distribution and desired values of molecular weight is presented. The coordinate transformation method and the optimal control theory are applied to a batch PMMA polymerization system to calculate the optimal temperature trajectory. Coordinate transformation method converts the original fixed-end-point, free-end-time problem to a free-end-point, fixed-end-time problem. The idea is that by making the reactor temperature track the optimal temperature trajectory one may be able to produce polymer products having the prespecified physical property in a minimum time. The on-line control experiments with the PID control algorithm have been conducted to establish the validity of the scheme proposed in this study. The experimental results show that prespecified polymer product could be obtained with tracking the calculated optimal temperature trajectory.

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