Inferential model predictive control of poly(ethylene terephthalate) degradation during extrusion


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Kimya Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2006

Öğrenci: MURAT OLUŞ ÖZBEK

Eş Danışman: GÖKNUR BAYRAM, CANAN ÖZGEN

Özet:

Poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, which is commonly used as a packaging material, is not degradable in nature. As an issue of sustainable development it must be recycled and converted into other products. During this process, extrusion is an important unit operation. In extrusion process, if the operating conditions are not controlled, PET can go under degradation, which results in the loss of some mechanical properties. In order to overcome the degradation of recycled PET (RPET), this study aims the control of the extrusion process. Dynamic models of the system for control purposes are obtained by experimental studies. In the experimental studies, screw speed, feed rate and barrel temperatures are taken as process variables in the ranges of 50 500 rpm, 3.85 8.16 g/min and 270 310 oC respectively. Singular value decomposition (SVD) technique is used for the best pairing between the manipulated controlled variables, where screw speed is taken as the manipulated variable and molecular weight of the product is taken as the controlled variable. PID and model predictive controller (MPC) are designed utilizing the dynamic models in the feedback inferential control algorithm. In the simulation studies, the performance of the designed inferential control system, where molecular weight (Mv) of the product is estimated from the measured intrinsic viscosity ([η]) of the product, is investigated. The controller utilizing PID and MPC control algorithms are found to be robust and satisfactory in tracking the given set points and eliminating the effects of the disturbances.