The interactions of design, control and operability in reactive distillation systems

Abstract

This chapter discusses the interactions of process design, process control, and operability in reactive distillation systems. The study is performed in a system involving the production of ethyl acetate from the esterification of acetic acid with ethanol. The problem is posed as a dynamic optimization problem under uncertainty and solved using control-vector parameterization techniques. Two state-of-the-art optimization strategies are employed. First, the design and control tasks are considered sequentially, and for the second, design and control are optimized simultaneously, and the potential synergistic benefits of such an approach are investigated. In both cases, multiloop proportional-integral (PI) controllers are used. Optimization results of the simultaneous approach indicate promising process designs and illustrate how controllability is a strong function of the process design and how careful design can result in significantly improved controllability without necessarily having to pay an economic penalty.