A PREDICTIVE FUZZY-LOGIC CONTROLLER FOR RESIN MANUFACTURING

Exothermic reactions in polymerization processes require precise contr ol of the reaction temperature in order to avoid the danger of tempera ture run-away and the consequent damage to expensive materials. Mathem atical modeling of the reaction process, in order to construct a model -based control, is highly complex due to the unpredictable and nonline ar exothermic reaction temperatures. In such cases, Fuzzy Logic Contro l (FLC) is very useful since it does not require a mathematical model for generating a control law. This paper details a design methodology for a sensor-based FLC control system in producing phenol formaldehyde resin adhesives. A control structure called predictive FLC is develop ed and employed. Several experiments were carried out to ascertain the accuracy of predictive FLC in controlling the reaction temperature. T wo of the temperature responses are included in the paper. (C) 1998 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.