The dynamic nature and the non-linear behaviour of batch distillation equipment pose challenging control system design when products of constant purity are to be recovered. Several alternative column configurations and operating policies have been studied. However, issues related to the on-line operation of such process have not been properly addressed. The present work describes the investigation with experimental verification of computer based control strategies to batch distillation: a programmable adaptive controller (PAC), a self-tuning regulator (STR) and a non-linear model predictive control (MPC). The developed control systems made the conventional batch distillation column more efficient and easy to operate. Experiments performed on the pilot column confirm the simulation results. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.392121128