Modeling, analysis and control of ethylene glycol reactive distillation column

Aditya Kumar, Prodromos Daoutidis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

110 Scopus citations

Abstract

The dynamic behavior and control of an ethylene glycol reactive distillation column were studied. A detailed tray-by-tray model that explicitly includes the vapor-phase balances is derived and compared with a conventional model that ignores the vapor holdup. The steady-state variation of the product purity (the key output to be controlled) with respect to reboiler heat duty was studied, identifying a region of output multiplicity with three branches corresponding to different conversion and product selectivity. Further analysis of the process on the steady-state branch with high conversion and selectivity reveals a transition from minimum phase behavior at moderate purity to nonminimum phase behavior at high purity. The nonminimum phase behavior was analyzed and addressed in the design of a nonlinear inversion-based controller that performs well with stability in the high purity region.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)51-68
Number of pages18
JournalAIChE Journal
Volume45
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1999

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Modeling, analysis and control of ethylene glycol reactive distillation column'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this