Abstract
A reactor integrated with separation process has been widely proposed and studied to enhance the production of high value added chemicals. An example of such a process is a pervaporative membrane reactor which is the combination of a reactor and a pervaporation part. The inclusive of a pervaporation can shift the chemical equilibrium of esterification by passing water out of reaction mixture and therefore increase the yield of a desired product. In addition, the temperature of the reactor is one of key factors to define the rate of reactions involved. In this work, a neural network controller has been designed to control an optimal temperature of a pervaporation membrane reactor. The performance of the designed controller has been evaluated in both nominal and plant/model mismatch cases. It was found that the neural network controller could successfully control the reactor temperature at a desired set point in nominal cases and plant/model mismatches in rate constant, heat of reaction and heat transfer coefficient.
