Distillation process is a complex process of conduction, mass transfer and heat conduction, which is mainly manifested as follows: The mechanism is complex and changeable with uncertainty; the process is multivariate and strong coupling; the system is nonlinear, hysteresis and time-varying. Neural networks can perform effective learning based on corresponding samples, do not rely on fixed mechanisms, have the ability to approximate arbitrary nonlinear mappings, and can be used to establish system input and output models. The temperature system of the rectification tower has a complicated structure and high accuracy requirements. The neural network is used to control the temperature of the system, which satisfies the requirements of the production process. This article briefly describes the basic concepts and research progress of neural network and distillation tower temperature control, and systematically summarizes the application of neural network in distillation tower control, aiming to provide reference for the development of related industries.