Model gain scheduling control of an ethyl tert-butyle ether reactive distillation column

Reactive distillation (RD) is a favorable alternative to the conventional series of reaction-separation processes. However, the control of RD is challenging because of its complex dynamics resulting from the integrated functionality of reaction and separation. A linear proportional-integral-derivative algorithm with fixed parameters has been shown not to be satisfactory to handle the high directionality of the process gain. It needs to be retuned adequately over a wide range of operating conditions. In this work, model gain scheduling is investigated for an ethyl tert-butyl ether reactive distillation column. It employs a set of simple local models, which cover relevant operating conditions and cope with the nonlinear characteristics of the process. The simple models are then integrated by using a proper switching scheme. Simulation results have shown that the proposed control strategy outperforms the standard proportional-integral control in both set-point tracking and disturbance rejection