Model predictive control of a CVD reactor for production of polysilicon rods

Production of polysilicon plays a key role in the development of hi-tech and renewable energy industry. Massive production is obtained by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in semi-batch reactors, traditionally called Siemens reactors, where silicon rods are grown. Following recent increase in market demand for polysilicon, a fine process control on industrial processes for improving production yield and reducing energy consumption is required. In this work, a technique for a real-time model-based predictive control applied to a laboratory-scale Siemens reactor is presented; a lumped model is used for describing the CVD process. Discussion is based on numerical results.