Modeling and Control of a Copolymerization Reactor

A detailed mathematical model is presented for the solution copolymerization of methyl methacrylate and vinyl acetate in a continuous stirred tank reactor. Kinetic parameters and reactor operating conditions were obtained from the open literature. Input/output control pairings were investigated for this specific example in order to identify the fundamental structure of the solution copolymerization control problem. Specific controllers for production rate, composition, molecular weight and temperature control are discussed.