Decentralized control of a kinetically controlled ideal reactive distillation column

Abstract

Two-point and three-point temperature control structures are proposed for a kinetically controlled ideal reactive distillation (RD) column. The control structures maintain stable column operation for large throughput changes. However, large deviations in the final product purities are seen with three-point control giving comparatively lower deviations. The large product purity deviations are due to the kinetic regime so that two temperature set-points are adjusted in a cascade arrangement to maintain the distillate and bottoms purity. The proposed two-point and three-point structures with cascade compensation of the temperature set-points effectively maintain the distillate and bottoms purity for a large throughput decrease. However, the two-point structures fail for a large throughput increase. This is because in the kinetically controlled regime, maintaining the distillate purity requires an increase in the effective reflux ratio to internally recycle the escaping reactants back into the reactive zone. The two-point structures that use the fixed reflux ratio policy thus fail as an infeasible steady state is sought. The three-point structures effectively maintain the product purities as the reflux ratio is indirectly adjusted through the manipulation of the reflux rate. The work highlights the need for understanding the interaction between the reaction and separation sections for effective RD control system design.