General procedure for the synthesis of process flowsheets. Final report, July 16, 1991--July 31, 1993

摘要

The research was divided into two parts: examining (1) continuous and (2) batch processes. The work on continuous processes was focused on the development of a more general procedure for the systematic synthesis of process flowsheets that identifies the most important process alternatives (including waste minimization alternatives), the dominant design variables, and the minimum energy consumption for each alternative for continuous, vapor-liquid-liquid-solid processes for the production of nonpolymeric materials. The work was an extension of the hierarchical synthesis procedure previously developed for vapor-liquid processes. A new superstructure for continuous process flowsheets, along with an extended set of rules for the classification of components, with special attention to waste minimization, and solvent selection was developed. The work on batch processes was focused on the development of new procedures for the design and scheduling of multiproduct batch plants. The approach was based on simulated annealing and the solution of the optimal sequencing problem as well as the results on the design problem are described in this report.