Worst-case and distributional robustness analysis of the full molecular weight distribution during free radical bulk polymerization

A novel approach is proposed to quantify the effects of parameter uncertainties on state distributions in finite-time nonlinear distributed parameter systems, and this approach is applied to a free radical bulk polymerization reactor. For worst-case uncertainty descriptions, parameters are computed that result in worst-case deviations in the monomer conversion, average molecular properties, and the full molecular weight distribution. For probabilistic uncertainty descriptions, a constructive procedure is provided for computing the stochastic distribution of the state distribution. This more sophisticated robustness analysis enables a deep investigation into the effects of parameter uncertainties, control implementation uncertainties, and disturbances for systems with state distributions.