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Computation of near‐optimal control policies for free‐radical polymerization reactors
Author(s) -
Osakada K.,
Fan L. T.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1970.070141210
Subject(s) - polymerization , molar mass distribution , computation , polynomial , polymer , radical polymerization , materials science , degree (music) , degree of polymerization , nonlinear system , polymer chemistry , mathematics , computer science , mathematical optimization , thermodynamics , physics , algorithm , mathematical analysis , composite material , quantum mechanics , acoustics
A polymer is characterized by the average degree of polymerization and the molecular weight distribution. Approximate optimization of temperature control, or catalyst feed rate control, or both are performed to attain not only the desired average degree of polymerization but also the desired molecular weight distribution. This near‐optimal policy, which is a function of time only for a batch polymerization reactor, is first expressed by a polynomial, and the coefficients of the polynomial are estimated by a pattern search technique. This coefficient's estimation method coupled with a nonlinear search technique was found to be suitable for solving this type of our optimization problem involving complex chemical kinetics.