Real time optimization of methanol reactor with catalyst deactivation

In this article Real Time Optimization (RTO) of industrial shell and tube methanol reactor is presented. Mathematical modeling of the reactor is considered as the case study and inlet concentrations of CO, CO2, H2, H2O and methanol are used as disturbances. Outlet concentration of methanol is maximized by adjusting the temperature of the shell as manipulating variable. Differential evolution (DE) and genetic algorithm are utilized for optimization purpose; in which the optimizer initiates every hour and determines the optimal shell temperature. Catalyst activity reduction is updated as model parameter every 24-hour periods. Comparing the optimization results demonstrates that DE algorithm requires less CPU time than genetic algorithm. By using the optimization algorithm and control loop, production of methanol increases up to 15%.

Keywords:

component , real time optimization (RTO) , catalyst deactivation , methanol reactor