Robust optimization of periodically operated nonlinear uncertain processes

Author-Highlights
• Optimizing autonomously oscillating systems with uncertain parameters.
• Robust stability guarantees for optimal modes of process operation.
• Addressing stability constraints as a system of nonlinear equations.
• Illustration of the method with robust optimization of chemical reaction systems.

We present a method for determining optimal modes of operation for autonomously oscillating systems with uncertain parameters. In a typical application of the method, a nonlinear dynamical system is optimized with respect to an economic objective function with nonlinear programming methods, and stability is guaranteed for all points in a robustness region around the optimal point. The stability constraints are implemented by imposing a lower bound on the distance between the optimal point and all stability boundaries in its vicinity, where stability boundaries are described with notions from bifurcation theory. We derive the required constraints for a general class of periodically operated processes and show how these bounds can be integrated into standard nonlinear programming methods. We present results of the optimization of two chemical reaction systems for illustration.