Optimal control of hybrid dynamical systems with the maximum principle: application to a nonlinear chemical process

Chemical products manufacturing must consider sequences which lead them from an initial phase to a final one. In each phase the dynamic evolutions in the process are continuous. This paper presents a new method that minimizes the overall operating time to obtain the desired products, with respect to the constraints on the continuous variables. It is based on the Pontryagin's maximum principle extended to discrete controlled hybrid dynamical systems. It is illustrated using a nonlinear chemical process.