Optimal control of a batch cooling seeded crystallizer

Abstract Temperature profile of a batch crystallization has a direct effect on the product qualities. This paper deals with finding a temperature profile such that an objective function pertinent to the final-time product qualities is minimized. By using the concept of population balance, a new method for solving the population balance equation (PBE) is introduced. The optimization algorithm finds the minimum of the objective function with respect to a parameter vector temperature input, subject to the mass balance dynamics as well as the PBE. The results for natural cooling, linear cooling and optimal cooling are compared. The sensitivity of the optimal solution with respect to the model parameters is computed. The proposed strategies are evaluated experimentally for an ammonium sulfate–water system.