This paper summarizes an approach of Sliding Mode Control, which can be used for a width class of nonlinear chemical processes. The controller was synthesized from an empirical model of the process. The designed controller was developed for minimum phase systems and presents a fixed structure and can be tuned based on the characteristic parameters of the model. A proposed implementation scheme is shown. The designed controller was tested for minimum and nonminimum phase systems, as well as for integrating and MIMO systems in different experimental conditions (i.e., disturbances, noise, modeling errors). The designed controller had shown good performance for the different kind of systems and conditions. [S0022-0434(00)01504-5]