This case study investigates the behaviour of a semi-batch surfactant
reactor and seeks ways to improve the reactor's operating efficiency t
hrough the use of automatic control. The reaction involves adding ethy
lene oxide (EO) to nonylphenol to form oligomer (short chain polymer)
with the assistance of potassium hydroxide acting as catalyst. The rea
ctor was modelled using dynamic mass and energy balances plus a descri
ption of the kinetics of nonylphenol polyethoxylation. The pressure in
reactor was calculated by applying Wilson's equation and the heat tra
nsfer coefficient of the heat exchanger was determined from plant data
. The model was implemented in SPEEDUP flowsheeting package; and able
to predict the length of oligomers in the reactor at any time. The mod
el has been tested and compared with the performance of the actual pla
nt. Due to the nature of the semibatch reactor, it is difficult to man
ually operate the reactor at a fixed optimal condition. Therefore, an
improved automatic control scheme is needed to maintain the system as
dose as possible to its optimum condition This was investigated by usi
ng the model and was found to offer higher output from the reactor. (C
) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.