Optimization of a tubular nylon 6 reactor with radial gradients

Optimal jacket-fluid temperature profiles for tubular Nylon 6 reactors (in the presence of radial gradients of temperature and concentration) have been obtained using an algorithm based on the continuous minimum principle developed for a distributed parameter system. A gradient search technique has been devised and implemented for obtaining these optimal profiles. The optimal temperature profiles are found to be at the maximum permissible temperature, T_max, at the beginning of the reactor and then slowly decrease to the minimum permissible temperature, T_min, near the end of the reactor. The effect of varying several parameters is also studied. The desired value of the chain length and the reaction time are found to be the parameters which effect the optimal profiles most significantly.