Optimal Control of Methanol Synthesis Fixed-Bed Reactor

The possibility to apply the nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) to the fixed-bed tubular reactor for methanol synthesis is broached. The distributed nature of the methanol synthesis reactor implies a simultaneous management of temporal and spatial dynamics to control the conventional physical time-dependent parameters (temperature, flows, etc.) but also the axial migration of the temperature hot-spot typical of methanol synthesis. The approach can be easily extended to other systems characterized by exothermic reactions. Special attention is given to the prompt response of NMPC to ensure the online effectiveness. Theoretical and practical information is provided.