A model based approach for estimation and control for polymer compounding (April 2003)

The objective of this work is to develop a framework for improved operation of extruders in a wide range of applications by incorporating intelligent means for: (i) online product quality estimation (inferential sensing), (ii) diagnostics for common process/material failures, and (iii) closed-loop control of product quality based on the online estimation. The current practice in the industry is limited by inadequate use or even lack of online measurements, infrequent and expensive off-line lab analysis of product samples and non-existent process controls that lead to significantly reduced productivity. In this work, we have developed a novel model-based approach for the estimation, diagnostics and controls in a unified framework. In this paper, we focus on the online estimation and control. In particular, we demonstrate the model-based approach to viscosity estimation and closed-loop control through experiment runs on a lab-scale ZSK 25 mm extruder.