Modeling and techno-economic optimization of the supercritical drying of silica aerogels

Supercritical drying is the only effective method for producing aerogels. Aerogels are innovative materials that found various applications in the range of industries. At the same time, supercritical drying is a technologically complex and expensive process, and an important goal is to optimize the production process to reduce costs and energy consumption. In this paper, the following aspects are considered: Investigation of the influence of parameters on the supercritical drying of silica aerogels on a laboratory scale; Modeling and simulation of the supercritical drying process; Developing a methodology for calculating the cost of manufacturing of silica aerogels; Creating a software module for calculating the cost of manufacturing of silica aerogels and performing techno-economic optimization of the supercritical drying process; Techno-economical optimization of the supercritical drying of silica aerogels on a pilot scale. With the aid of the developed software, techno-economic optimization of the pilot plant of silica aerogels was carried out. The developed mathematical model, optimization approach, and studies of the intensification of the supercritical drying process make it possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing in the existing production of aerogels by 26.4%.