Automation in the Gallienne distillery

Until recently, the distillation boilers at Cognac Martell were controlled manually, on the basis of a heating curve handed down by tradition to the operators. A partnership with Gaz de France/Supe´lec made it possible to model the boiler´s behaviour and to control the process, not by imposing system inputs (gas pressure and water flow rate), but rather by adjusting the output (distillate flow rate and temperature). The advantages are multiple: more effective rejection of disturbances, lower consumption, and better control over heating. On the other hand, results obtained in simulation prove that predictive control laws enforce performance and seem to be very interesting and extremely stimulating.