Reflux control of a laboratory distillation column via MPC-based reference governor

An optimization-based control strategy is proposed to improve control performance of a primary PI controller. The strategy, referred to as a MPC-based reference governor, optimizes the performance of a primary PI controller by supplying optimal setpoints to the primary controller. This primary PI controller is responsible for reflux ratio manipulation in a distillation column, to control the temperature of the column head. This paper shows theoretical and experimental results obtained on the laboratory-scale.