Nonlinear Control of Non Isothermal Chemical Reactors. An Approach based on a Geometric Characterization Which Incorporates Stoichiometry and Kinetics

This paper addresses the temperature control problem of certain reaction kinetics networks in nonisothermal continuous agitated reactors whose isothermal version exhibits a unique stable critical point. The treatment of the problem incorporates notions from chemical reaction theory (kinetics and stoichiometry) and from nonlinear dynamics. From a chemical reactor network theory viewpoint, a new geometric dynamic characterization, is obtained for the continuous reactor. The nonlinear temperature controller is the result of undoing the structural changes induced by the passage from the isothermal reactor to the nonisothermal one. Finally, the approach is extended to treat the temperature tracking control for a nonisothermal batch reactor.