Characterization of chemical processes

Efficient control of complex chemical processes can be most easily implemented when the process is characterized. However, for most chemical systems this is difficult if not impossible because of the lack of adequate chemical information and the complexity of the interrelationships between the many variables in the process. The control of the processes is usually further hampered by the lack of on-line chemical instrumentation. As a result, most process control schemes are the result of ad hoc solutions where the control coefficients have an unknown relationship to the physical parameters being controlled.