Dissipativity-based Globally Convergent Observer Design for a Class of Tubular Reactors

The problem of designing a globally convergent observer for a class of tubular reactors with boundary measurements is addressed. The problem is tackled by extending a dissipativity theory-based observer design for nonlinear finite-dimensional systems, which has been recently applied to a class of continuous stirred tank reactors. The underlying idea of the proposed observer approach consists in designing the tubular reactor data-assimilation scheme so that the estimation error dynamics are given by a two-dissipative system interconnection: one linear distributed dynamical system with the convective and diffusive mechanisms, and one nonlinear lumped static system with the reaction kinetics. The approach is applied to a tubular reactor with non-monotonic kinetics and boundary measurements, and the associated sufficient solvability condition was identified and interpreted in terms of dissipativity and dimensionless numbers with physical meaning.