AUTOMATION OF A BATCH DISTILLATION COLUMN USING FUZZY AND CONVENTIONAL CONTROL

In this paper the automatic control of a batch-distillation column is described. This control is done both with fuzzy logic and with a combi nation of conventional linear and nonlinear control methods. After a s hort explanation of the function of a batch-distillation column, its o perating strategy is described, This strategy is the starting point fo r developing both automation concepts, The realizations of both concep ts are described, and measurements at the real plant are shown. Both c oncepts are compared with regard to the effort required in development and the quality of the operating results, This leads to the conclusio n that both methods are equivalent, The plant can be automated by the conventional linear and nonlinear method with the same quality as by f uzzy logic, although this problem seems to be predestined for fuzzy lo gic because of its knowledge representation in linguistic form.