L. Balland et al., A genetic algorithm with decimal coding for the estimation of kinetic and energetic parameters, CHEM INTELL, 50(1), 2000, pp. 121-135
A hybrid estimation method is proposed to estimate simultaneously the kinet
ic and energetic parameters of chemical models. This method combines a gene
tic algorithm with a local convergence method, the former generating initia
lisation points for the latter. The method is applied to a real complex che
mical system: the saponification of ethyl acetate at a concentration of 1 m
ol 1(-1). The reaction is carried out in a calorimetric reactor which deter
mines experimental profiles of power delivered or absorbed by the reaction
mass. A model, based on mass and energy balances in the reaction mass, incl
uding the kinetic and energetic parameters of the reaction, allows to calcu
late: the power profile. The comparison between the experimental and calcul
ated profiles gives the criterion to minimise. The parameters of the model
are successfully determined. The hybrid method determines more efficiently
and more rapidly the solution of the problem than a set of several estimati
ons with a local convergence method. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig
hts reserved.