Mid-ranging control of the cooling temperature for an Open Plate Reactor

A new type of chemical reactor has been designed by Alfa Laval AB, the open plate reactor (OPR), which is a combination of a continuous reactor and a high-performance plate heat exchanger. It combines good mixing with high heat transfer capacity. In this paper we present a mid-rangingcontrol structure for the utility system that provides the open plate reactor with cooling water. The mid-ranging control extends the operating range of existing equipment and increase the performance for large disturbances and set-point changes. Experiments show that the proposed control structure can control the cooling temperature over an increased operating range compared to standard PI-control loops