The Chemical Batch Reactor is aimed at tackling the above problems from a blending of academic
and industrial perspectives. Advanced solutions (i.e. those based on recent research results)
to the four fundamental problems of modeling identification control and fault diagnosis for
batch processes are developed in detail in four distinct chapters. In each chapter a general
overview of foundational concepts is also given together with a review of recent and classical
literature on the various subjects.To provide a unitary treatment of the different topics and
give a firm link to the underlying practical applications a single case study is developed as
the book progresses a batch process of industrial interest i.e. the phenol-formaldehyde
reaction for the production of phenolic resins is adopted to test the various techniques
developed. In this way a roadmap of the solutions to fundamental problems ranging from the
early stages of the production process to thecomplete design of control and diagnosis systems
is provided for both industrial practitioners and academic researchers.
