Control of Rotating Wave Trains in a Loop Reactor

A control strategy is proposed to stabilize thermal wave trains in networks of catalytic reactors with periodically rotated inlet and outlet ports. The implemented approach entails updating the time between two successive port rotations based on the current values of reaction and thermal front velocities. These latter values are on-line estimated by an algorithm derived from geometric analysis of the spatiotemporal temperature pattern. Guidelines for the placement of temperature sensors and controller design are illustrated which enforce robust stability at regime and during start-up. The illustrated strategy is validated on the simulated problem of controlling a loop reactor for combustion of volatile organic compounds.