Modeling, simulation and advanced control of methanol production from variable synthesis gas feed

A process relying on feedstock produced using a non-continuous energy source such as solar energy needs detailed understanding of the dynamics to define procedures for cycling and robust control design. In this work, methanol production from synthesis gas (or syngas) is studied. The syngas is (assumed to be) obtained from an intermittent upstream biomass-gasification process run by solar energy. Development of the methanol synthesis recycle-loop model is described in detail, along with several case studies performed using the steady-state and dynamic models for better understanding of the process behavior. A linear model predictive controller is designed to reject disturbances from a varying upstream syngas production process and track set point changes in the desired variables for methanol synthesis. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.