Vargas-Colón, Ariel O.

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    Automation of a fluid bed dryer using multi-variant near infrared spectra and model predictive control
    (2010) Vargas-Colón, Ariel O.; Velázquez-Figueroa, Carlos; College of Engineering; Cardona Martínez, Nelson; Acevedo Rullan, Aldo; Ortiz, Eduardo; Department of Chemical Engineering; Hernández, Samuel
    The Fluidized Bed Dryer (FBD) is a common unit used in the pharmaceutical industry for its unique advantages when working with powders. With recent development in technology and environmental awareness, a desire to optimize units to improve quality and reduce energy consumption has emerged. Many researchers have been studying different sensors and control techniques that could help achieve this desire. Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) has provided an advantage over other chemical sensors for its non destructive capacity and its speed. Model Predictive Control (MPC) has been proven as an advanced control strategy capable of online continuous optimization of the process. This research uses these two techniques to optimize a Fluidized Bed Dryer process. The research revolves around a laboratory scale FBD, with the purpose of generating a NIR mathematical treatment to improve online moisture content prediction and using the NIR reading as an input to an MPC for continuous online optimization of the process. System development was needed to communicate the NIR prediction to the Distributed Control System (DCS) that governs the automation of the FBD. The algorithm used for the communication allowed the use of Matlab’s mathematical base for programming the MPC. It also served as a bridge between the NIR software and the DCS. The mathematical treatment developed through the research consisted in the implementation of 3 partial least squares (PLS) models that uses raw spectrum where each model focused on different factors inside the spectrum to predict the sample’s moisture content and the error in the prediction. This technique shows sufficient improvement on the NIR prediction to allow a good performance from the controller.