The measurement and control of polymerization reactors is very challenging due to the complexity of the physical mechanisms and polymerization kinetics. In these reactors many important variables, which are related to end-use polymer properties, cannot be measured on-line or can only be measured at low sampling frequencies. Furthermore, end-use polymer properties are related to the entire molecular weight, copolymer composition, sequence length, and branching distributions.

Our work is concerned with instrumentation technologies, which are of particular interest in polymerization reactors with emphasis on, for example, measurement of viscosity, composition, molecular weight, and particle size. We believe in a hierarchical approach to the control system design and reviews traditional regulatory techniques as well as advanced control strategies for polymer reactors. We use these approaches by on industrial control in free radical emulsion, solution, and condensation polymerization reactors. We also mathematically model these types of reactors for process understanding.

Richards, J. R., and J. P. Congalidis, “Measurement and Control of Polymerization Reactors,” Computers & Chemical Engineering, 30, 1447 (2006).