Dynamic Matrix Control of a Batch Distillation Column

An integrated farm energy system has been constructed at the University of Missouri at Columbia that includes an Ethanol Fuel Production Unit. Forty to fifty gallons per day is distilled to ninety weight percent purity in a six inch diameter, twenty foot high packed column. Dynamic Matrix Control was applied to this batch distillation column. The dynamics of the process, which were approximated as first order plus dead time, vary widely as a function of pot concentration. DMC parameters were adjusted as a function of the batch cycle. Rapid setpoint response to top composition and smooth concentration control were obtained despite system dead time and disturbances.