Design of a heat exchanger network to challenge controller design methods

Graduation date: 1990A simple heat exchanger network has been studied as\ud an example of a dynamically interactive process. The\ud process is relatively simple, requiring only temperature\ud measurements and flow rate manipulations. Equations are\ud presented for the design of a physical process having a\ud specified steady-state Relative Gain Array and specified\ud dynamic characteristics. Although the physical process\ud is simple, it is shown to be a challenging control\ud problem.\ud The design equations were used to fit data from\ud existing equipment and to design a simpler configuration\ud which has significant dynamic interactions but only\ud small steady-state interactions. This simple\ud configuration was simulated and the performances of two\ud Proportional-Integral controllers or an Internal Model\ud Controller were compared. Only the IMC controller\ud showed satisfactory control of the process