First principle modeling and predictive control of a continuous biodiesel plant

Typically, the large-scale production of biodiesel involves continuous operation plants. Also, the final biodiesel product has to comply with specifications imposed by standards of quality in order to be marketable. These quality constraints must be satisfied during the production at the minimum possible operating cost, in order to make the process economically viable. In this context, a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) is applied to control the oil transesterification section of a continuous biodiesel plant. The controller determines the optimal profiles of the process variables using a nonlinear mechanistic model of the whole transesterification section. The model describes the dynamics of the composition and temperature of the liquid mixture in the reactors and in the decanters, as well as of the decanters interface level. The capability of the proposed NMPC strategy to improve the process economic performance and to enforce the final biodiesel specifications is demonstrated by simulation.