System Analysis of Complex Reactor behavior - A Case Study

Abstract

The paper examines the nonlinear behaviour between carbon coverage (input) and silicon production (output) in a submerged arc silicon furnace. A silicon furnace is a highly endothermic chemical reactor. Carbon coverage is the main input for control of the silicon yield and is determined manually. This is a di¢ cult task since the dynamic response varies with the carbon level in the furnace. Internal interconnections between the reactions in the process cause the dominant zeros and poles in the response to move. For high input values and high silicon yield, inverse responses and …nally unstability result. The paper describes how the dominant poles and zeros move and identi…es the internal interconnections in the reactor that cause the change in dynamics.Keywords: Reactor dynamic behaviour, zero and pole drift. Submerged arc silicon furnace.