This work is concerned with the coupled estimation of the heat generated by the reaction (Qr) and the overall heat transfer parameter (UA) during the terpolymerization of styrene, butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate from temperature measurements and the reactor heat balance. By making specific assumptions about the dynamics of the evolution of UA and Q R, we propose a cascade of observers to successively estimate these two parameters without the need for additional measurements of on-line samples. One further aspect of our approach is that only the energy balance around the reactor was employed. It means that the flow rate of the cooling jacket fluid was not required.
emulsion polymerization; on-line calorimetry; state estimation
