Dynamical behavior of the hybrid exothermic chemical reactor with imperfect mixing

The main goal is to design a hybrid exothermic chemical reactor that exhibits hysteresis or oscillatory behavior. Then, the hybrid system can be used as a benchmark plant for testing new control algorithms. In the hybrid reactor, the reactor vessel and jacket are real, but the reaction heat is simulated by means of the electric heater and a mathematical model of the process. Because in the real hybrid reactor the heating power is limited by its maximum value and the reactor content is not well-mixed, the paper discusses the influence of these factors on the dynamical behavior of the hybrid system. It is shown that the hysteresis or oscillatory behavior can be intensified, when the reactor content is poorly mixed. Furthermore, modification of the reaction parameters may also intensify the hysteresis behavior in the presence of heating power saturation.