Comparative study of Controller Optimisation for CSTR using Particle Swarm Optimization Technique

Abstract

The Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) plays a main role in all chemical process industries for mixing. CSTR found in wide applications where the industries allow liquid, gas and solid reactions, with continuous agitation and series configuration for concentration and temperature. Hence to attain specific concentration, the full strength of solution is mixed with desired proportions of water. This is usually carried out with the help of conventional PI & PID controllers. The main objective of the proposed work is to compare and analyze the conventional controllers used in CSTR with a soft computing technique tuned PI & PID controllers for various error criteria. The conventional controllers have difficulty in dealing with problems that appear in complex non-linear processes. In order to tackle this problem and improve the dynamic response of CSTR, the reactor performance is analyzed with soft computing technique known as Particle swarm Optimization (PSO). The control objective to maintain the CSTR at steady state operating point in terms of less settling time and reduced % overshoot