OUTPUT-FEEDBACK CONTROL OF CONTINUOUS POLYMER REACTORS WITH CONTINUOUS AND DISCRETE MEASUREMENTS

An output-feedback (OF) control to stabilize continuous free-radical solution polymer reactors is presented, on the basis of continuous measurements of temperatures, level and flows, and discrete-delayed measurements of molecular-weight (MW). First, the state-feedback controller is presented, and its behavior is the recovery target for the OF design. The OF control consists of continuous linear PI-type decentralized volume and cascade temperature controllers, a continuous material-balance monomer controller, and a discrete MW controller. The temperature controller requires two approximate static parameters, the monomer controller requires the heat capacity function, and the MW controller requires one static parameter and initiation constants (pre-exponential factor and activation energy), which are fewer modeling requirements than the ones of the case without MW measurements. The proposed control technique has a systematic construction and simple tuning guidelines, and is tested with an industrial size reactor through simulations.