Development of Chemical Process Design and Control for Sustainability

This contribution describes a novel process systems engineering framework that couples advanced control with sustainability evaluation for the optimization of process operations to minimize environmental impacts associated with products, materials and energy. The implemented control strategy combines a biologically-inspired method with optimal control concepts for finding more sustainable operating trajectories. The sustainability assessment of process operating points is carried out by using the U.S. EPA’s Gauging Reaction Effectiveness for the ENvironmental Sustainability of Chemistries with a multi-Objective Process Evaluator (GREENSCOPE) tool that provides scores for the selected indicators in the economic, material efficiency, environmental and energy areas. The indicator scores describe process performance on a sustainability measurement scale, effectively determining which operating point is more sustainable if there are more than several steady states for one specific product manufacturing. Through comparisons between a representative benchmark and the optimal steady states obtained through the implementation of the proposed controller, a systematic decision can be made in terms of whether the implementation of the controller is moving the process towards a more sustainable operation. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is illustrated through a case study of a continuous fermentation process for fuel production, whose material and energy time variation models are characterized by multiple steady states and oscillatory conditions

Systems level roadmap for solvent recovery and reuse in industries

Recovering waste solvent for reuse presents an excellent alternative to improving the greenness of industrial processes. Implementing solvent recovery practices in the chemical industry is necessary, given the increasing focus on sustainability to promote a circular economy. However, the systematic design of recovery processes is a daunting task due to the complexities associated with waste stream composition, techno-economic analysis, and environmental assessment. Furthermore, the challenges to satisfy the desired product specifications, particularly in pharmaceuticals and specialty chemical industries, may also deter solvent recovery and reuse practices. To this end, this review presents a systems-level approach including various methodologies that can be implemented to design and evaluate efficient solvent recovery pathways

Alternativas de diseño de plantas de operaciones de separación incluyendo la dimensión ambiental, de eficiencia energética y seguridad

The increased population's perception about the impacts of the industrial processes on the society and the environment has driven the development of tools to assess their sustainability. Sustainability can be defined as the balance between social, environmental and economic dimensions in the process. The oil industry has importance in Colombia in 2018 because represents the 37% of exports and 11% of tax revenue of Colombia. This paper shown an assessment tool of the sustainability applied in the design of the separation process for the crude oil production. This process includes since the manifold before of the separators to the storage tanks. Several sustainability assessment tools for industrial process were identified, selecting the indicators to quantify them, from economic, environment and social dimensions with the available information in the design step. Once the oil production impacts were identified, it was found that when comparing treatment of light crude and heavy crude, the latter, in addition to having lower profitability, has greater social and environmental impacts. Based on this proposal, it is observed that in order to apply these methodologies in the design of country processes, the following challenges have to be met: disseminate, standardize and generate policies that define standards and benchmarks for the evaluation of sustainability; and to have characterizations of the components of the process, models and simulators that allow the rapid quantification of impacts.El aumento en la percepción de la población sobre los impactos que generan los procesos industriales en la sociedad y el ambiente, ha impulsado el desarrollo de metodologías que permitan evaluar su sostenibilidad. Se define sostenibilidad como el equilibrio entre los aspectos sociales, ambientales y económicos que rodean un proceso. Considerando la importancia de la industria del petróleo, con una participación para el año 2018 del 37% en las exportaciones y del 11% en los ingresos corrientes de Colombia, el presente trabajo muestra la evaluación de sostenibilidad a partir del uso de indicadores sobre la información disponible en el diseño de instalaciones de separación para la producción de petróleo, que incluye desde el ingreso a los separadores hasta su almacenamiento en el campo de producción. Para esto se identificaron las metodologías para la evaluación de la sostenibilidad en procesos industriales, estableciendo los indicadores que permitan cuantificar la sostenibilidad desde las dimensiones económica, social y ambiental con la información disponible en la etapa de diseño de procesos. Una vez identificados los impactos del proceso de separación en la producción de petróleo, se encontró que al comparar el tratamiento del crudo ligero y del crudo pesado, este último además de tener menor rentabilidad, presenta mayores impactos sociales y ambientales. A partir de esta propuesta, se observa que para aplicar estas metodologías en el diseño de procesos del país se tienen los siguientes retos: difundir, normalizar y generar políticas que definan estándares y referentes para la evaluación de la sostenibilidad; y disponer de caracterizaciones de los componentes del proceso, modelos y simuladores que permitan realizar la rápida cuantificación de los impactos.Magíster en Ingeniería - Ingeniería Química.Maestrí

Sustainable process synthesis, design, and analysis: Challenges and opportunities

YesIn this perspective paper, we present challenges and opportunities that the chemical, biochemical and related industries pose to the process system engineering community to help deliver reliable and novel sustainable alternatives. More specifically, we highlight the need for a systems approach where model-based sustainable process synthesis, design, and analysis serve as opportunities to tackle the challenges. Three technology areas (interlinked to each other) that impact the sustainability of earth, namely, chemical processes linked with CO2 capture and utilization, biorefineries and water desalination are selected to highlight our views as well as the need for further development of computer-aided tools to efficiently solve the large and complex mathematical systems the problems represent. Analysis of these problems and their reported solutions indicate that opportunity exists for development of a new class of model-based methods and tools and their integration with the currently available ones to obtain the desired sustainability development goals

Coupling life cycle assessment with process simulation for ecodesign of chemical processes

Because of the central position of the chemical industries along the value chain, process design has a pivotal role, involving many decision makers and multiple levels of decisions. To tackle the environmental concern at source, this article presents a methodological framework for process ecodesign, coupling flowsheeting simulators both for production and energy processes with a Life Cycle Assessment module that generalizes and automates the evaluation of environmental impacts. The life cycle inventory is carried out through the combined use of mass and energy balances resulting both from the global simulation of the process and its associated energy production requirement and from the use of inventory database (i.e., Ecoinvent v3) embedded in the Life Cycle Assessment software tool used (SimaPro). Different process alternatives can thus be evaluated in a systematic way and the energy‐related emissions for any given process that match exactly the real situation can be computed without introducing a bias in the estimation. Through comparisons between a case base and process alternatives, a systematic decision can be made in terms of whether a solution is moving the process towards a more sustainable operation. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is first illustrated through the case study of benzene production and second, by a biodiesel production process from waste vegetable oils which is one of the foremost alternative fuels to those refined from petroleum product

Inherent safety health environment and economic assessment for sustainable chemical process design: Biodiesel case study

Chemical process design involves the development of chemical route that converts the feedstock to the desired product. During chemical process design, the sustainability features, i.e. safety, health and environmental (SHE), and economic performance (EP) should be established through assessment. However, at present, no relevant assessment framework with simultaneous consideration of SHE and EP is reported in literature. As improvement to the mentioned shortfall, this thesis presents four systematic frameworks for chemical process design based on multiple objectives of inherent SHE and EP. These frameworks are specifically dedicated for three design stages of (1) research and development, (2) preliminary engineering stage, and (3) basic engineering stage, and lastly (4) uncertainty analysis with the presence of multiple operational periods. Following the proposed frameworks, the mathematical optimisation models were developed for the assessment. Besides, multi-objective optimisation algorithm (fuzzy optimisation) and multi-period optimisation approach were also integrated into the frameworks to address the multiple objectives, uncertainties and multiple operational periods. To illustrate the frameworks proposed in this thesis, the assessments on biodiesel production pathway in different design stages were solved. Prior to the assessment, eight alternative biodiesel production pathways were identified based on literature. Through the evaluations and assessments in each design stage using the proposed frameworks, a final optimum biodiesel production pathway, i.e. enzymatic transesterification using waste vegetable oil, was designed through assessment. This pathway was further assessed and improved via assessment in basic engineering stage and uncertainty analysis. Following the assessments, several inherent SHE improvement strategies for all the three highlighted design stages were also suggested. Lastly, it can be concluded that the developed frameworks provide simplified yet effective ways for chemical process design based on the multi-objective of inherent SHE and EP

A multiscale methodology for the preliminary screening of alternative process designs from a sustainability viewpoint adopting molecular and process simulation along with data envelopment analysis

La ricerca scientifica nell\u2019ambito dell\u2019ingegneria chimica si \ue8 focalizzata sia sul perfezionamento delle teorie e delle tecniche utilizzate attualmente, che sullo sviluppo di nuovi strumenti atti a risolvere le problematiche ancora insolute relative alle produzioni di beni e servizi tipici delle industrie chimiche, biochimiche e farmaceutiche. In questo panorama, gli approcci multiscala si sono rivelati molto utili grazie alla loro peculiarit\ue0 di coniugare aspetti che spaziano dalla quanto-meccanica tipica della nanoscala, alla meccanica classica dei materiali massivi, comprendendo prospettive molto ampie e adattando ogni teoria alle diverse applicazioni. Inoltre, il riconoscimento dei concetti legati alla sostenibilit\ue0 come principi cardine per ottenere uno sviluppo sostenibile ha generato un prolifico incremento della diffusione di metodologie per considerare aspetti sociali e ambientali, a fianco delle tradizionali stime economiche, nel quadro pi\uf9 ampio delle valutazioni degli impianti chimici. Di conseguenza, questa tesi tratta dello sviluppo di una metodologia multiscala per la stima preliminare di diverse configurazioni impiantistiche, promuovendo l\u2019adozione di strumenti computazionali differenti e comprendendo valutazioni di carattere economico, sociale e ambientale. Il fine ultimo che tale metodologia si prefigge risiede nella soddisfazione della necessit\ue0 tipica di qualsiasi impianto di produzione, ovvero nella definizione di una metodologia di valutazione di vari parametri e configurazioni impiantistiche, utilizzando un\u2019ottica sostenibile e fornendo risultati velocemente. Al lettore verranno fornite le adeguate informazioni sull\u2019argomento in maniera progressiva attraverso i capitoli di questa tesi. Nel Chapter I saranno descritti il concetto di sostenibilit\ue0 e di sviluppo sostenibile. Seguir\ue0 una trattazione riguardante la loro applicazione nella societ\ue0 odierna da diverse prospettive: a partire da quella pi\uf9 generalista delle istituzioni, fino a quella pi\uf9 particolare dell\u2019industria, per concludere con una parte specifica sull\u2019industria chimica, corredata di esempi di metodologie applicate a processi chimici. Il Chapter II descriver\ue0 i passaggi necessari ad ottenere la valutazione della sostenibilit\ue0 delle alternative impiantistiche. Dal reperimento delle informazioni necessarie, all\u2019implementazione dei modelli nei simulatori di processo, seguito dal calcolo degli indici rappresentativi dei pilastri della sostenibilit\ue0, i cui valori vengono successivamente valutati tramite un algoritmo matematico (DEA) per identificare la configurazione impiantistica ottimale. Infine \ue8 necessario analizzare le alternative inefficienti di modo da comprendere su quali variabili si debba intervenire per migliorarne le prestazioni attraverso una retrofit analisi. Il Chapter III affronter\ue0 l\u2019utilizzo di diverse tecniche di simulazione molecolare per la stima del coefficiente di ripartizione ottanolo-acqua (Kow), che \ue8 un propriet\ue0 fondamentale per il calcolo di alcuni indici utilizzati. Il lettore trover\ue0 alcuni casi di studio descritti nel Chapter IV. Il primo appartiene al ramo della farmaceutica e si occupa della produzione del pioglitazone cloridrato attraverso l\u2019utilizzo di diverse vie di sintesi appartenenti a numerosi brevetti. La seconda applicazione della metodologia riguarda l\u2019industria biochimica e ottimizza le condizioni operative di un reattore utilizzato per la produzione di biodiesel a partire da olio vegetale. L\u2019ultimo caso di studio esplora il mondo dei materiali nanostrutturati, valutando diversi parametri di reazione utilizzati per condurre la sintesi di CdSe quantum dot. L\u2019ultimo Chapter V conterr\ue0 le valutazioni conclusive e le prospettive future.Research activity in chemical engineering is focused on the refinement of theories and techniques employed for the development of new tools aiming at solving issues directly related to the generation of goods and services supplied by chemical, biochemical and pharmaceutical industries. In this context, multiscale approaches revealed to be very useful, since they embrace theories from quantum mechanics at the nanoscale to classical mechanics at the macroscale, contemplating wide perspectives and enabling the adaptation of each theory to an abundance of disparate applications. Furthermore, the acknowledgment of sustainability among the cornerstones of future development led to a copious diffusion of sustainability evaluation methodologies, aiming to account for economic, social and environmental concerns among chemical processes assessments. Therefore, this thesis deals with the development of a multiscale framework for the preliminary screening of chemical process designs, promoting the adoption of various computational tools along with sustainability considerations. The purpose of this methodology resides in the fulfillment of an emblematic need for any production site, i.e. evaluating a production process considering possible modifications from different perspectives in order to identify as fast as possible the most efficient design including economic, social and environmental concerns. The reader will be guided through this topic following the chapters of this dissertation. In Chapter I, the concept of sustainability and sustainable development will be presented, followed by some applications starting from the wider panorama of institutions to the industry perspective, concluding with some relevant examples from chemical process engineering. Chapter II will describe each step to be performed in order to gain the sustainability evaluation of the process alternatives. From retrieving the promising process designs, to implementing each flowsheet in a process simulator, then calculating several indicators based on the sustainability pillars, which is followed by employing a mathematical tool (DEA) in order to select the most efficient designs and finally investigating how to enhance the sub-optimal alternatives through a retrofit analysis. Chapter III will deal with the application of different molecular simulation techniques in order to estimate the octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow), which is an essential parameter for the calculation of several sustainability indicators. Then the reader will encounter the three case studies shown in details in Chapter IV. The first one belongs to the pharmaceutical field and deals with the production of pioglitazone hydrochloride considering different synthesis routes from various patents. The second application regards the biochemical industry, optimizing the operating conditions of a reactor employed for the production of biodiesel from vegetable oil. The last one explores the synthesis of nanomaterials, evaluating several reaction parameters involved in the laboratory production of CdSe quantum dots from a sustainability viewpoint. Some concluding remarks and future perspectives will be included in the final Chapter V

INTEGRATED COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN, EXPERIMENTATION, AND OPTIMIZATION APPROACH FOR PEROVSKITES AND PETROLEUM PACKAGING PROCESSES

According to the World Economic Forum report, the U.S. currently has an energy efficiency of just 30%, thus illustrating the potential scope and need for efficiency enhancement and waste minimization. In the U.S. energy sector, petroleum and solar energy are the two key pillars that have the potential to create research opportunities for transition to a cleaner, greener, and sustainable future. In this research endeavor, the focus is on two pivotal areas: (i) Computer-aided perovskite solar cell synthesis; and (ii) Optimization of flow processes through multiproduct petroleum pipelines. In the area of perovskite synthesis, the emphasis is on the enhancement of structural stability, lower costs, and sustainability. Utilizing modeling and optimization methods for computer-aided molecular design (CAMD), efficient, sustainable, less toxic, and economically viable alternatives to conventional lead-based perovskites are obtained. In the second area of optimization of flow processes through multiproduct petroleum pipelines, an actual industrial-scale operation for packaging multiple lube-oil blends is studied. Through an integrated approach of experimental characterization, process design, procedural improvements, testing protocols, control mechanisms, mathematical modeling, and optimization, the limitations of traditional packaging operations are identified, and innovative operational paradigms and strategies are developed by incorporating methods from process systems engineering and data-driven approaches

Optimal Design of Eco-Industrial Parks with coupled energy networks addressing Complexity bottleneck through an Interdependence analysis

By gathering in Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs), companies obtain benefits from synergistic cooperation but it also creates a risk by increasing interdependencies. The aim of this paper is to provide a method for optimally design exchanges that takes into consideration real stakes of companies. This resolution method is assessed on a multi-period MILP model of coupled energy networks integrating a utility system producing steam at different pressure levels and a mutualized on-grid Hybrid Power System (HPS) providing electricity using Renewable Energy (RE) sources. Design concerns interconnections between companies such as boilers, turbines and power of RE sources. A multi-stage approach is developped to minimize network complexity and Net Present Value (NPV) of the overall network. Lastly, an interdependency analysis is proposed to choose the optimal solution. Tested on a case study involving 15 companies, the optimal exchanges have been raised to satisfy demands over four time periods