Control of reactive distillation process for production of ethyl acetate

In this paper, plant-wide control for the production of ethyl acetate using reactive distillation is studied. Four important issues are considered in developing control schemes, including: (1) economics; (2) steady-state deviation of key product purities; (3) controllability in terms of degree of oscillation and settling time; and (4) feasible region of disturbances for effective control. Starting with two basic control schemes that have been studied before, new control schemes are developed to improve the operability of the process. These new control schemes have evolved from the basic schemes by making a trade-off between optimal design and control or by selecting sensor locations using closed-loop sensitivity analysis. It is found that, while being subjected to fluctuations in the composition of the acid feed or in the production flow-rate, sensor location based on traditional open-loop sensitivity causes a larger overshoot and steady-state deviation of key product purities. Sensor location on the basis of a closed-loop sensitivity analysis provides a better alternative for feedback control. The resulting scheme for control is found to be effective in reducing the steady-state deviation and in promoting good control performance.