Donald R. Coughanowr

Sampled-data control of a nonlinear system

Abstract Sampled-data proportional control of an exothermic CSTR has been studied using the classical linear analysis and by the application of the averaging te

Control of temperature peaks in adiabatic fixed-bed tubular reactors

Abstract Catalytic fixed-bed tubular reactors can undergo severe temperature excursions particularly when there is a drop in feed temperature. Several control strategies have been studied which attenuate temperature peaks that would occur in an uncontrolled reactor. A practical strategy is recommended which requires feeding a fraction of the reactants at an intermediate point along the reactor bed. A control algorithm which enables the calculation of the secondary flow is proposed and its performance characteristics are evaluated through dynamic simulations. It is found that the proposed method is very effective in attenuating the temperature peaks, thus preventing catalyst deactivations and structural damage to the reactor.