Reflux control of a laboratory distillation column via MPC-based reference governor

Abstract

An optimization-based control strategy is proposed to improve control performance of a primary PI controller. The strategy, referred to as a MPC-based reference governor, optimizes the performance of a primary PI controller by supplying optimal setpoints to the primary controller. This primary PI controller is responsible for reflux ratio manipulation in a distillation column, to control the temperature of the column head. This paper shows theoretical and experimental results obtained on the laboratory-scale.

H<sub>∞</sub> Robust Control System of a High-Purity Distillation Column

“…Distillation is an important process in the separation and purification of chemicals that exploits the difference in the boiling points of multi-component liquids. It has some unique characteristics, such as complex dynamics, coupling amoung loops, time delay and various disturbances [1]. However, many problems in modeling and control of distillation processes arise from their strong nonlinear behavior.…”