Design and Analysis of an Integral Startup System for Distillation Columns

A novel, integral process control system is developed for the complex startup and product changeover processes associated with distillation columns. First, theoretical foundations are considered. A problem decomposition then provides the basis for the systematic development of an automatic, recipe-based procedure. The architecture of the system developed is presented and the manner in which the recipe-based procedure operates is illustrated using experimental results generated by production plant.