AN IMPROVED COMPUTATIONAL ALGORITHM FOR SINGULAR CONTROL PROBLEMS IN CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING

Abstract
A unidirectional method is developed to solve optimal singular control problems with bounded state variables. The computational algorithm utilizes the necessary conditions of optimality and an unidirectional scheme to reduce the iterations required in two-point boundary value problems. The advantage of the method is that it satisfies all the necessary conditions of optimality and results in a considerable reduction in computational effort. Three numerical examples illustrate the use of these algorithms for solving several chemical reaction engineering problems.