Computer aided process engineering tools devised for batch processes are still well behind the performance of those developed for steady state processes. As commercial process simulators still lack optimisation capabilities, the alternative for optimising process recipes is resorting to programming languages like Gams, Matlab or gProms. This paper proposes a modelling formalism that could be implemented in such languages and is aimed at retaining a large degree of modularity (reuse of pre programmed modules) to expedite the set up of the problems, as well as reducing the computation time by exploiting the mathematical structure of the models at hand (this is especially convenient for highly nested process structures, whose mass balances can be handled by a linear system of equations). The formalism is illustrated with a multiplant arrangement that produces sugar cane derivatives: sugar, bio ethanol and yeast.
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