Dynamic behaviors and nonlinear wave model control of heat integrated air separation columns with different purities

• The dynamic behaviors of three heat integrated air separation columns (HIASC) with different purities are studied.
• A nonlinear wave model of HIASC is established based on a novel wave velocity.
• A novel model predictive control scheme based on wave model is carried out.

Three heat integrated air separation columns (HIASCs) with different purities (low purity, moderate purity and high purity) are presented, and the open-loop dynamic behaviors are studied. A shock wave velocity is derived for HIASC, and based on that a nonlinear wave model of the HIASC is further established. Combined with the proposed wave model, a novel model predictive control scheme (SWMPC) is carried out, which is compared with a conventional model predictive control scheme (MPC). The comparison simulation results show that SWMPC can work better than MPC, especially for the high-purity HIASC.