Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) Plant Model: A New Benchmark Problem for Control and Operation Study

A rigorous dynamic plant model of a vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) production was developed. This plant model enables the users to experience realistic plant operation, since it reflects the real plant characteristics and practical problems on the basis of experienced practitioners’ opinions. More importantly, the plant model provides a new benchmark problem; the users can investigate start-up/shutdown operation, plant-wide process control, fault detection and diagnosis, and others. Multiple scenarios prepared in the developed model cannot be simulated in conventional benchmark problems. The plant model can be used also for chemical engineering education. This advantageous plant model is released from Omega Simulation Co., Ltd. with a free limited license of Visual Modeler, which is a commercial dynamic simulator and can be linked with MATLAB®. This article aims to introduce the VAM plant model, the steady-state balance, various disturbances and malfunctions, and operation scenarios.