A combined heuristic and evolutionary strategy for synthesis of simple separation sequences

A review of the synthesis of distillation based separation systems

The incorporation of renewable energy sources to the market has brought a new golden era for process synthesis along with new challenges and opportunities. In this work, we give a brief review of the state of the art and then present challenges and future directions in this exciting area. The biggest driver is the rapid improvement in computer technology which greatly increases the number of factors that can be considered during the design process. Thus, some of the key future directions lie in integrating the design process with other aspects of process systems engineering, such as scheduling, planning, control, and supply chain management. In addition, sustainability is now a major consideration in which the design process must consider not only economic sustainability, but social sustainability and environmental sustainability when making design decisions. The tools available to address these challenges are limited but we are in a position to develop them based on strong chemical engineering principles following a multidisciplinary approach with contributions from other disciplines such as biology and biochemistry, computer science, materials, and chemistry.

Future directions in process and product synthesis and design

Process-product synthesis, design and analysis through the Group Contribution (GC) approach

A statistical approach to the synthesis of separation sequences

This paper presents the development and application of systematic framework to perform new and retrofit phenomena-based synthesis-intensification generating well-known/existing as well as novel intensified solutions. The fundamental pillars of this framework are generic definition, expansion and use of Phenomena Building Blocks (PBBs) that include all possible phases (spanning vapor, liquid and solid), identification of principle PBBs using physical property and thermodynamic insights and generation of phenomena-based superstructure to systematically identify novel, innovative and intensified flowsheet alternatives. The generated flowsheet options are ranked based on Enthalpy Index (EI) to identify promising candidates for detailed analysis. One of the key features of this framework that distinguishes it from preceding methods for phenomena-based synthesis is that the flowsheet alternatives are synthesized from phenomena-based superstructure rather than relying on a base-case for phenomena and/or hotspots identification and replacement of base-case unit operations accordingly. That is, a phenomena-based superstructure is generated to directly identify intensified solutions. New phenomena, their classes and systematic algorithms are developed in order to generate novel intensified solutions. These developments and systematic framework are illustrated through case study involving production of Dimethyl Ether (DME). The results confirm that using this approach, promising alternatives with novel unit-operations are generated in systematic way.

A combined heuristic and evolutionary strategy for synthesis of simple separation sequences

Citations

A review of the synthesis of distillation based separation systems

Future directions in process and product synthesis and design

Process-product synthesis, design and analysis through the Group Contribution (GC) approach

A statistical approach to the synthesis of separation sequences

A process synthesis-intensification method for generation of novel and intensified solutions

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