FRONTIER OF
CHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEERING:
THEORERICAL DEVELOPMENT AND
APPLICATION POTENTIALS
Y. L. Huang
Laboratory for Computer-Aided Process Systems
Science and Engineering
Department of Chemical Engineering and
Materials Science
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202
September 3 – 5, 2002
U.S. Chemical Process Industry Today
Challenges
• Economical: cost, product quality
• Environmental: P2 — clean manufacturing
• Technological: new product and process development
Global Competition
• Europe: merger and acquisition of chemical companies
• U.S.: Investment from abroad > U.S. investment abroad
Industrial Response
• Re-evaluation of business performance
• Revolution of manufacturing/processing technologies
• Identification of market opportunities
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Technology Vision 2020:
The U.S. Chemical Industry
• Leads the world in technology development,
manufacturing, and profitability
• Is responsible for breakthroughs in R&D
• Leads the world in creating innovative process
and product technologies
• Sets the world standard for excellence of
manufacturing operations
• …
-- by ACS, AIChE, CMA, CCR, SOCMA, 1996
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Five Goals of the U.S. Chemical Industry
(1996 - 2000)
• Improve operations
• Improve efficiency in the use of raw materials, the reuse of
recycled materials, and the generation and use of energy
• Continue to play a leadership role in balancing
environmental and economic considerations
• Aggressively commit to longer term investment in R&D
• Balance investment in technology by leveraging the
capabilities of government, academe, and the chemical
industry as a whole through targeted collaborative efforts in
R&D
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Vision 2020
New Chemical
Science &
Engineering
Technology
Supply Chain
Management
Chemical
Science
Enabling
Technologies
Process
Science and
Process
Engineering
September 3 – 5, 2002
Information
System
Chemical
Measurement
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Manufacturing
& Operation
Computational
Technologies
Enabling Technologies — 1
Process
software
tools
Real-time
measurement
tools
Nontraditional
reaction
and
separation
systems
September 3 – 5, 2002
Smart
processes
Solids
processing
Process Science
and Process
Engineering
New concepts
in flexible
manufacturing
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Process
technology for
high
performance
materials and
structures
Enabling Technologies — 2
Chemical
measurement
Chemical
analysis at
the
molecular
level
September 3 – 5, 2002
Robust
measurement
techniques
Instrumentation
interfacing
standard, highperformance
spectrometers
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Enabling Technologies — 3
Computational
molecular
science
Process
simulation and
modeling
September 3 – 5, 2002
Computational
technologies
Operations
simulation and
optimization
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Computational
fluid dynamics
Large scale
integration/
smart
systems
Chemical Engineering Spectrum
10
-9
-6
-3
10
Nano tech
10
3
10
10
Control
Biochem
Molecular
Polymer
0
Info tech
Catalysis
Design
Traditional
PSE
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Chemical Process Systems Engineering
-- Challenge and Opportunity
• New production paradigms of reactions and
separations
• Advanced process integration and integration of
process design
• Large-scale hierarchical decision making and
dynamic optimization
• Profitable process pollution prevention and
product life cycle
• Computing and information technologies
• Integrated microchemical system theory (?)
• Biosystem engineering
• Large scale systemChEtheory
(e.g., industrial ecology)
September 3 – 5, 2002
4200 – Fall, 2002
System Hierarchy
Hybrid System
• Reactive
Distillation
RN
DCN - Primary
Separation
MEN - Secondary
Separation
MN - Tertiary
Separation
HEN - Energy
Recovery
• Reactive MEN
• Reactive
membrane
system
• Heat
integrated
reactionseparation
system
• ...
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Computing Paradigm Shifting
DATA
Market
Symbolic
Imprecise
Unstructured
KNOWLEDGE
Linguistic
Corporate
Conceptual
Unit/plant
Epistemological
Stream
Physical/chemical
September 3 – 5, 2002
Precise
Structured
Precise
Numerical
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Logical
Physical
Process Integration
What?
• Heat integration – HEN, heat integrated reactor and/or
separator systems
• Mass integration – MEN
Why?
• For improving energy/mass efficiency, and minimizing adverse
environmental impact
Where?
• Any continuous and batch process systems
• Any process and manufacturing industries
How?
• Identification of energy and mass sources and sinks
• Application of system science, engineering fundamentals and
heuristics to design an integrated plant
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Major Deficiency of Current Process Integration
Phenomena
Operational Problem
(Lack of controllability)
Results
Unachievable environmental
and economic goals
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Improper Heat Integration -- Environmental Problem
Product
(176.7) [18.14]
Recycle
(110)
Waste
Generation
(98.9)
[32.56]
(148.9)
[27.14]
(110)
(123.9)
E1
D1
R1
R2
(176.7)
(98.9)
(132.2)
(160)
E3
(137.8)
(115.6)
Temp. Range
(91.2-111.7)
By-product
E2
(93.3)
Feed A
(48.9) , [15.86]
Feed B
(35) , [8.68]
Benefit: Energy Reduction 78%
Problem: Uncontrollable Waste Generation
Key
September 3 – 5, 2002
[ ] : Mc (kW/ C)
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002 P
( ) : T (C) ;
Improper Mass Integration – New Environ. Prob.
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Improved Process Integration
– Structural Disturbance Rejection
Gd
Z1
Severe disturbances
Z2
Z
Mild or negligible
disturbances
Gd
Gd1,1
Gd1,2
Gd2,1
Gd2,2
D1,1
U1
U
D
Gp
Y
Gp
U2
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
D2,2
D1,2
D2,1
Y1
Less strict
control
Y2
Strict
control
Integrated Process Design and Control
— A New Process Engineering Paradigm
Traditional Approach
• Design & control: sequential activities
• Advantage:
• simple, separate consideration of cost for design and operability
for control
• Disadvantage:
• designed integrated process may not be operable, and multiple
objectives may not be reachable
New Approach
• Design & control: integrated — control in design
• Advantage:
• capable of addressing multiple design and control objectives in
one step
• prevention of operational problems in design
• Disadvantage:
• more
effort
September
3 – 5,computational
2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Integrated Process Design and Control
Process synthesis
DESIGN
Trend:
Process analysis
Process optimization
Simultaneous
Detailed process design
Control synthesis
Tradition:
Sequential
CONTROL
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Control analysis
Control optimization
Detailed control design
On-going Projects in Integrated Process Design and Control
(Funded by NSF and ACS-PRF)
Main Features — towards science
• More rigorous modeling
• Introduction of dynamics or pseudo dynamics
• Rigorous optimization, steady-state and dynamic
Art
Science
Industry’s practice
Academic focus
Researchers
Douglas (UMass)
McAvoy (U MD)
Huang (WSU)
Achiene
(U Conn)
Floudas (Princeton)
Pistocopolous (Imperial
College)
September 3 – 5, 2002
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Christofides (UCLA)
Realistic Expectation on
Integrated Process Design and Control
Expected Milestones in IPDC Software Development
2000
Unit-based
design
with
dynamic
analysis
2005
Flowsheet
simulation
with key
dynamics
evaluation
September 3 – 5, 2002
Operability
enhancement
in an
integrated
plant
2010
Multiobjective
design
Control
scheme
synthesis
ChE 4200 – Fall, 2002
Automatic
generation
of process
flowsheets
(??)