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On the optimization by boundary control of tubular reactors with catalyst decay
Author(s) -
Gruyaert Frans,
Crowe C. M.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690220606
Subject(s) - steady state (chemistry) , catalysis , control theory (sociology) , boundary (topology) , optimal control , chemical reactor , control (management) , state (computer science) , mechanics , chemistry , thermodynamics , mathematics , materials science , physics , computer science , mathematical optimization , mathematical analysis , algorithm , biochemistry , artificial intelligence
In optimization problems dealing with catalytic reactors, where the catalyst deactivates slowly with time, it is common to assume a quasi steady state in the reaction and deactivation equations. Although the difference in reactor performance, for a given control policy, between the unsteady state reactor and its quasi steady state approximation is usually negligible, a very large difference can exist in the optimal control policy for the two models. For a single irreversible reaction, where the catalyst deactivation is dependent on conversion and where the control variable is the temperature of the fluid entering a tubular reactor, it is shown numerically that the performance of the reactor for a suboptimal control policy can be significantly superior to the optimal performance predicted from a quasi steady state model formulation.