Batch Processes

Batch processes are used to manufacture many fine organic chemicals, and as such they can be considered to underpin much of the modern chemical industry. Despite widespread use and a consequent huge contribution to wealth creation, batch processes have attracted limited attention outside the user industries. Batch chemicals processing uses a number of core techniques and technologies, such as scheduling and sequence control, agitation and batch filtration. The combination of these technologies with often complex chemistry, the multi-purpose nature of much of this type of plant, the distinctive safety and environmental issues, and a fast moving commercial environment makes the development of a successful batch process a considerable challenge for the chemist or engineer. The literature on the topics covered in this book is fragmented and often not easily accessible, so this handbook has been written to address this problem and to bring together design and process analysis methods in the core areas of batch process design. By combining the science and pragmatism required in the development of successful batch processes this new book provides answers to real problems in an accessible and concise way. Written by an international team of authors drawn from industry, consulting and academe, this book is an essential part of the library of any chemist, technologist or engineer working on the development of new or existing batch processes.

Reduced time to market, lower production costs, and improved flexibility are critical success factors for batch processes. Their ability to handle variations in feedstock and product specifications has made them key to the operation of multipurpose facilities, and therefore quite popular in the specialty chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and

Historically batch control systems were designed individually to match a specific arrangement of plant equipment. They lacked the ability to convert to new products without having to modify the control systems, and did not lend themselves to integration with manufacturing management systems. Practical Batch Management Systems explains how to utilize the building blocks and arrange the structures of modern batch management systems to produce flexible schemes suitable for automated batch management, with the capability to be reconfigured to use the same plant equipment in different combinations. It introduces current best practice in the automation of batch processes, including the drive for integration with MES (Manufacturing Execution System) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) products from major IT vendors. References and examples are drawn from DCS / PLC batch control products currently on the market. - Implement modern batch management systems that are flexible and easily reconfigured - Integrate batch management with other manufacturing systems including MES and ERP - Increase productivity through industry best practice

This book is based on the authors’ research on the stabilization and fault-tolerant control of batch processes, which are flourishing topics in the field of control system engineering. It introduces iterative learning control for linear/nonlinear single/multi-phase batch processes; iterative learning optimal guaranteed cost control; delay-dependent iterative learning control; and iterative learning fault-tolerant control for linear/nonlinear single/multi-phase batch processes. Providing important insights and useful methods and practical algorithms that can potentially be applied in batch process control and optimization, it is a valuable resource for researchers, scientists, and engineers in the field of process system engineering and control engineering.

Gives a real world explanation of how to analyze and troubleshoot a process control system in a batch process plant • Explains how to analyze the requirements for controlling a batch process, develop the control logic to meet these requirements, and troubleshoot the process controls in batch processes • Presents three categories of batch processes (cyclical batch, multigrade facilities, and flexible batch) and examines the differences in the control requirements in each • Examines various concepts of a product recipe and what its nature must be in a flexible batch facility • Approaches the subject from the process perspective, with emphasis on the advantages of using structured logic in the automation of all but the simplest batch processes. • Discusses the flow of information starting at the plant floor and continuing through various levels of the control logic up to the corporate IT level

Modeling and Control of Batch Processes presents state-of-the-art techniques ranging from mechanistic to data-driven models. These methods are specifically tailored to handle issues pertinent to batch processes, such as nonlinear dynamics and lack of online quality measurements. In particular, the book proposes: a novel batch control design with well characterized feasibility properties; a modeling approach that unites multi-model and partial least squares techniques; a generalization of the subspace identification approach for batch processes; and applications to several detailed case studies, ranging from a complex simulation test bed to industrial data. The book’s proposed methodology employs statistical tools, such as partial least squares and subspace identification, and couples them with notions from state-space-based models to provide solutions to the quality control problem for batch processes. Practical implementation issues are discussed to help readers understand the application of the methods in greater depth. The book includes numerous comments and remarks providing insight and fundamental understanding into the modeling and control of batch processes. Modeling and Control of Batch Processes includes many detailed examples of industrial relevance that can be tailored by process control engineers or researchers to a specific application. The book is also of interest to graduate students studying control systems, as it contains new research topics and references to significant recent work. Advances in Industrial Control reports and encourages the transfer of technology in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of new work in all aspects of industrial control.

Batch chemical processing has in the past decade enjoyed a return to respectability as a valuable, effective, and often preferred mode of process operation. This book provides the first comprehensive and authoritative coverage that reviews the state of the art development in the field of batch chemical systems engineering, applications in various chemical industries, current practice in different parts of the world, and future technical challenges. Developments in enabling computing technologies such as simulation, mathematical programming, knowledge based systems, and prognosis of how these developments would impact future progress in the batch domain are covered. Design issues for complex unit processes and batch plants as well as operational issues such as control and scheduling are also addressed.

Three important areas of process dynamics and control: chemical reactors, distillation columns and batch processes are the main topics of discussion and evaluation at the IFAC Symposium on Dynamics and Control of Chemical Reactors, Distillation Columns and Batch Processes (DYCORD '95). This valuable publication was produced from the latest in the series, providing a detailed assessment of developments of key technologies within the field of process dynamics and control.