Analysis and Control of the Methyl Isocyanate Hydrolysis Reaction

Abstract

In this work, bifurcation analysis and MultiobjectiveNonlinear Model Predictive Control is performed on Methyl isocyanatehydrolysis reaction in a CSTR. Bifurcation analysis is a powerful mathematical tool for studying the nonlinear dynamics of any process. Several factors must be considered, and multiple objectives must be met simultaneously.  The MATLAB program MATCONT was used to perform the bifurcation analysis. The MNLMPC calculations were performed using the optimization language PYOMO in conjunction with the state-of-the-art global optimization solvers IPOPT and BARON.The bifurcation analysis revealed the existence of  Hopf bifurcation points and limit points. The MNLMC converged on the Utopian solution. Hopf bifurcation points, which cause unwanted limit cycles, are eliminated using an activation function based on the tanh function. The most important significance of this work lies in the demonstration of a strategy that can eliminate the limit cycle causing Hopf bifurcations that are responsible for the Bhopal disaster when the hydrolysis of Methyl isocyanate is performed.