Control of Totally Refluxed Reactive Distillation Column Using Model Predictive Controller

The reactive distillation combines both chemical reaction and multi component separation into a single unit. According to the mechanism of the reaction operation involved, reactive distillation columns are often designed to work in a totally re?uxed operation mode. Since there is no rectifying section in the reactive distillation column, the re?ux drum is directly connected to the reactive section and this leads to an intimate interaction between them. Such interaction a?ects considerably the reaction operation involved and can eventually present a strong impact to the dynamics and controllability of the totally re?uxed reactive distillation columns. The paper discusses about the application of PID controller and MPC controller in reactive distillation column. A generic mathematical model of reactive distillation has been taken for simulation. The PID and MPC controllers are designed for the process and then the overall process is controlled by using conventional (PID) and MPC controllers separately. Conventional PID controller is used to control the bottom composition of the column and then it is replaced with MPC controller and then the results from both the controllers are compared.