Data-Driven Modeling of a Pilot Plant Batch Reactor and Validation of a Nonlinear Model Predictive Controller for Dynamic Temperature Profile Tracking

Batch process plays a very crucial and important role in process industries. The increased operational flexibility and trend toward high-quality, low-volume chemical production has put more emphasis on batch processing. In this work, nonlinearities associated with the batch reactor process have been studied. ARX and NARX models have been identified using open-loop data obtained from the pilot plant batch reactor. The performance of the batch reactor with conventional linear controllers results in aggressive manipulated variable action and larger energy consumption due to its inherent nonlinearity. This issue has been addressed in the proposed work by identifying the nonlinear model and designing a nonlinear model predictive controller for a pilot plant batch reactor. The implementation of the proposed method has resulted in smooth response of the manipulated variable as well as reactor temperature on both simulation and real-time experimentation.