Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.56, No.25, 7322-7335, 2017
Online Optimal Feedback Control of Polymerization Reactors: Application to Polymerization of Acrylamide-Water-Potassium Persulfate (KPS) System
This paper deals with the design and implementation of optimal real-time control strategies for controlling polymerization reactors in free radical polymerization processes. A multiobjective optimization problem is first formulated to determine optimal trajectories for a range of target products. A tailor-made control module is then formulated and implemented in python for controlling the weight average molar mass (M-w) to robustly achieve the desired polymer molar mass distribution (MMD). Multiple control case studies are discussed and applied to force the system along the optimal targets. Performance of the controller is evaluated in each case using Automatic Continuous Online Monitoring of Polymerization reactions (ACOMP). Results are provided through investigations into the free radical polymerization of the acrylamide in water using potassium persulfate (KPS) as an initiator.