2016
The center manifold methodology allows to reduce the dimension of the state spaces when analysing a bifurcation of a dynamic system. It is applied to predict the dynamic behaviour of an industrial reactor when it starts to run away. The center manifold methodology goes a step beyond the Linear Stability Analysis by including the local nonlinear behaviour of the system and this approach is particularly important when encountering Hopf bifurcations (thermal runaway). For the complex LCO hydrotreating reactor model, the reduction leads to a precise criterion that determines whether a limit cycle exists and an algebraic formula is capable of predicting the deviation of the state variables from the operating point.
