Computers & Chemical Engineering, Vol.26, No.4-5, 747-755, 2002
Decision support tools for process design and selection
We proposed a new tool that is capable of reducing the complexity of the process synthesis problem and analyzing a trade-off between the environmental impact, economy and robustness of a chemical process. In addition, new efficient process robustness parameters were also proposed. Static flexibility was indicated by the failure probability which could be calculated with a small number of iterations. The operability was evaluated by the deviation ratio. Applicability of the method was illustrated in case studies, syntheses of a closed-loop toluene recovery process and a propylene glycol production process. By the proposed methodology, it is possible to design an appropriate process with minimal environmental impact and maximal robustness at a desired economic performance. The solution obtained using proposed methodology defines an optimal design with adequate static flexibility and operability. Moreover, the solution obtained using proposed methodology was compared with the conventional value function method.
Keywords:process synthesis;multi-criteria optimization;environmental impact;failure probability;deviation ratio