Observer-based input/output (I/O) linearizing control for an EDC vaporizer system

• We propose an observer-based control system for an EDC vaporizer system.
• I/O linearizing controller is used to track level and temperature of the vaporizer.
• Nonlinear state observer with error dynamics predicts compensated states.
• The proposed method improves robustness despite operating near unstable condition.

This paper presents a new observer-based input/output (I/O) system for handling the level and temperature of a vaporizer system with heat integration in petrochemical industries. The vaporizer is usually sensitive to disturbances and has a small stable operating regime, leading to a problem of system stabilization. The I/O linearizing controller is designed to force the outputs to track desired trajectories while the nonlinear observer with linearizable error dynamics predicts compensated states. The performance of the control method is investigated through a case study of the ethylene dichloride (EDC) vaporizer system under the setpoint tracking with unmeasured disturbances and process uncertainties. The simulation results showed that the proposed method is effective to compensate disturbances for the vaporizer system.