Passivity based controller and observer of exothermic chemical reactors*

This paper focuses on non linear control and state estimation of non isothermal exothermic Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors (CSTRs). More precisely, the asymptotic stabilization of such CSTRs about any operating point (including unstable open loop stationary point) is treated using the jacket temperature as the only control input. Since state variables are used in the feedback law, a state observer is also proposed. The convergence properties of the controller coupled with the observer are shown using passivity based tools in the Hamiltonian framework. Some numerical simulations with a first order chemical reaction are given to validate our theoretical results.