CLOSED-LOOP DATA RECONCILIATION FOR THE CONTROL OF A BINARY DISTILLATION COLUMN

Data reconciliation is a procedure that makes use of process models along with process measurements to give more precise and consistent estimates for process variables. Data reconciliation has been traditionally used to provide a more representative set of data to calculate steady-state inventories and process yields. For dynamic systems, the use of data reconciliation is relatively nascent. This article examines the potential use of data reconciliation in closed-loop control as a filter to attenuate the noise in measurements of the controlled variables so that the controllers can access more accurate sets of data. Data reconciliation filters were implemented in simulations of a PID control system for a binary distillation column. Results showed that data reconciliation could efficiently reduce the propagation of measurement noise in control loops, so that the overall performance of the controller is enhanced.