Integration of reactor network synthesis: A literature review and opportunities for future research

The reactor network synthesis (RNS) is one of the subtopics of the chemical process synthesis, the purpose of which is to find an optimal reactor network for the specific objective function of the studied reaction system. This review discusses the principles, advantages, and disadvantages of various methods of RNS, together with the state of the research in each field. These methods could be divided into four categories: the process-based approach (such as the attainable region, the targeting approach, and the method based on the elementary process functions), superstructure-based approach, stochastic optimization, and parametric method. Finally, the paper discusses the existing problems of RNS in academic researches and practical applications, as well as its research directions in the future. This paper is helpful to the readers who have interests in the design and optimization of the reactor networks.