Optimal operation profit of a pilot rotary kiln for charcoal activation

摘要

This work presents an optimization study of a pilot rotary kiln steady state operation, used to manufacture activated carbon (AC) from eucalyptus wood and, a sensitivity analysis on the optimal solution. The main goal is the maximization of a process operating profit function, considering constraints on the optimization variables as: residence time, solid feed, activation steam and heating gas flow rates, for maintaining product quality and maximum production yield. Bounds on optimization variables have been previously defined by a sensitivity analysis of the kiln performance carried out via simulation of the steady state mathematical model. Due to the kind of equality constraints, the optimization problem was solved coupling the optimization code with a differential equation solver in a MatlabTM framework. Results attained allow getting valuable information for design, operation policy, regulation and reactor scale-up in order to develop a local technology for activated carbon production using a regional raw material.