Non‐Linear Predictive Control of a Three‐Phase Catalytic Reactor

In this work, the predictive control of a three‐phase catalytic reactor is considered. A predictive control algorithm, which has a non‐linear internal model represented by functional link networks, is proposed. This network structure has been shown to have a good non‐linear approximation capability, with the advantage that the estimation of its weight is a linear optimization problem. The results show the potential of the proposed procedure when it is applied to the 2‐methyl‐cyclohexanol production process, which is a non‐linear, distributed parameter and time‐varying process, typical of many important industrial systems.