Multivariable control of the polymer molecular weight in emulsion polymerization processes.
Event details
| Date | 22.10.2010 |
| Hour | 10:15 |
| Speaker | Dr. N. Othman, Laboratory of Control and Chemical Engineering, CNRS, Lyon, France. |
| Location |
ME C2405
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Controlling polymerization processes is essential in order to ensure the process safety and product quality. These reactions are known to be exothermic, rapid and sensitive to impurities and they have nonlinear behavior with constraints on the inputs and the states.
In solution or emulsion polymerization, one of the main polymer properties to be controlled is the polymer molecular weight (MW). This property is related to the final product viscosity and mechanical and thermal properties.
In this presentation, a multivariable control strategy is used to control the polymer MW in emulsion polymerization processes while maximizing the reaction rate. First of all, an online estimate of the polymer MW is calculated by developing a cascade of two nonlinear observers. Note that real measurements of the polymer MW can only be done off line with important delay. Controlling the polymer MW is then done by using input-output linearizing control that takes into account the process nonlinearity. The strategy is validated in the case of styrene (St) emulsion polymerization for which the model is well known. The methodology is then validated for the monomer methyl methacrylate (MMA) where a simplified behavioral model is identified.
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- Free