Integrated design of power- and resource-saving chemical processes and process control systems: Strategy, methods, and application

A strategy for the integrated design of power-and resource-saving chemical processes and the systems controlling their operating conditions with uncertain input data on physicochemical and process parameters is formulated. A multistep iterative procedure for solving integrated design problems is developed. The procedure includes the generation of alternative chemical processes meeting the “rigid” and/or “soft” flexibility constraints and the choice of operating (control) actions, the synthesis of alternative systems for the automatic control of the operating conditions of the chemical process and the choice of the best control system, the pairwise comparison of feasible automated integrated systems consisting of the chemical engineering process and its control system and the choice of the best integrated system using the criterion based on the power and resource savings and control quality by solving one-and/or two-stage stochastic optimization problems with rigid and/or soft constraints. An example integrated design of the flexible continuous synthesis of azo pigments with an automatic-control system for stabilizing the optimal static conditions is discussed.