Process Control of Polymerization Reactors: An Industrial Perspective

ABSTRACTPolymerization reactors usually exhibit complex nonlinear dynamic behavior because of the complexity of the physicochemical interactions and the kinetics of the polymerization reactions. In these reactors many important variables, often related to end-use polymer properties, cannot be measured on-line or can only be measured at very low sampling frequencies. Furthermore, end-use polymer properties are usually related to the molecular weight and composition distributions in the polymerization reactor. Finally, the typical industrial polymer reactor is used to manufacture a variety of grades of the same basic product necessitating frequent startups, on-line transitions, and shutdowns.The approaches used by the authors to meet these challenges are illustrated, within the constraints of protecting proprietary information, by focusing on the modeling and control of a commercial multiproduct continuous emulsion copolymerization reactor. The development of fundamental process understanding captured in a ...