Ratio-integral objective functions in the optimal operation of chemical reactors

The efficiency of a broad class of continuous processes operated under unsteady-state conditions must often be expressed as the ratio of two integrals: in chemical reactor problems this may represent either the yield or the selectivity of a desired product in a complex reaction scheme.Objective functions taking this form are included in the formulation of the problem for solution using the Maximum Principle of Pontryagin; the resultant additional necessary condition of optimality appears in a particularly convenient form so that the complexity of the problem is only marginally increased.