Search results for "Loop reactor"

Model predictive control for continuous lactide ring‐opening polymerization processes

2020

International audience; Polylactic acid (PLA) is an attractive environment-friendly thermoplastic that is bio-sourced and biodegradable. PLA is industrially produced by the ring-opening polymerization of Lactide. This reaction is sensitive to drifts in the operating conditions and impurities in the raw materials that may affect the reaction rate as well as the polymer properties, which can be very costly in continuous processes. It is therefore crucial to employ a control strategy that allows recovering the nominal conditions and maintaining the desired properties and conversion level in case of drift. Three control strategies are discussed in this paper: Proportional-Integral controller (P…