ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF A BATCH REACTOR

A globally stable adaptive predictive control system (APCS) is evaluated by application to a simulated PVC batch reactor. The reactor is run under APCS control with the objective of either temperature setpoint tracking or constant reaction rate. The batch nature of this system makes it possible to learn about the physical problem from successive runs. This knowledge is incorporated into the control strategy to improve the performance of the reactor. The problem of excessive manipulation of the control variable has been recognized and resolved by using control weighting. Performance of the adaptive technique is compared with previous results using self-tuning and PID control of the same reactor. APCS provides good, robust control despite the nonlinear dynamics of the system.