Estimation of product compositions for multicomponent distillation columns

In distillation column control, secondary measurements such as temperatures and flows are widely used in order to infer product composition. This paper addresses the design of static estimators using the secondary measurements for estimating the product compositions of the multicomponent distillation columns. Based on the unified framework for the estimator problems, the relationships among several typical static estimators are discussed including the effect of the measured inputs. Design guidelines for the composition estimator using PLS regression are also presented. The estimator based on the guidelines is robust to sensor noise and has a good predictive power.