In this contribution profile position control for a debutanizer column is presented and a nonlinear profile position observer is developed using tray temperature measurement. The measurement location is always a well-known problem in industry; moreover it causes capital investment also. In order to overcome this difficulty we are proposing the pseudo profile position concept to control a debutanizer column. The proposed pseudo profile position concept makes the proposed controller scheme to directly applicable in an industrial column with few modifications in the existing control structure of the column and without any fixed capital investment. A comparative study has been presented for four cases including control of distillation column using only one temperature measurement. The simulation results showed that our approach has the potential to meet the industrial process control requirement. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.