Robust Controller Design for a Fixed-Bed Methanation Reactor

A systematic approach is applied to the design of robust multivariable controllers for a fixed-bed, laboratory methanation reactor. A configuration in which both the inlet temperature and the total flow rate are employed as manipulated variables for the regulation of the outlet temperature is investigated. The IMC design procedure is applied in combination with recently developed analysis and synthesis techniques based on the Structured Singular Value (¿). Bounds are obtained through the analysis that allow to predict, a priori, the closed-loop performance in the face of model uncertainty.