Temperature control of the asphaltic emulsion in an industrial tank

In this paper, a solution for the asphaltic emulsion temperature simulation and control in an industrial tank is proposed. The asphaltic emulsion heating process is a distributed parameter one and its model is expressed using a partial differential equation. In this context, an original solution of including a distributed parameter process in a control structure is presented. The numerical simulation of the control structure is made using the method of the matrix of partial derivatives of the state vector associated with approximating solutions and Taylor series. Through the possibility to control the temperature value of the emulsion and to monitor its value in any point from the tank, the main problem of the energy consume reduction is solved in the present paper. This aspect is due to the fact that, in normal storage conditions, the emulsion can be maintained at a minimum temperature, respectively its temperature is increased only before being delivered to the tank cars.