OUTDOOR – An open-source superstructure construction and optimization tool

To enhance the availability of superstructure optimization as a tool in process design for industries as well as science this work presents a fully Open sUperstrucTure moDeling and OptimizatiOn fRamework (OUTDOOR). This framework is written in Python using object-oriented programming in combination with algebraic modeling utilizing the PYOMO modeling language. In addition, an Excel-based data preparation tool, called Excel-Wrapper is presented. It provides an intuitive way to prepare process data and generate superstructures, which are ready-made for solving using open-source as well as commercial optimization solvers

Capturing CO2 from the atmosphere: Design and analysis of a large-scale DAC facility

Direct air carbon capture (DAC) technologies can substantially lower the CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere by enabling negative emissions. This study shows in detail the design of the DAC plant at industrial scale and provides insights on its performance in terms of process economic and CO2 emissions count. The proposed DAC plant is optimized to capture CO2 directly from the atmospheric air, employing a sensitivity analysis to find the influence of operation and design parameters on the total cost. Absorption using sodium hydroxide as chemisorbent is utilized with a capture rate of 0.7. Industrially mature common process units are considered to achieve a design that is relevant in the near future. An initial base case design indicates a carbon cost of 244 $/ton-CO2 with the operating expenses comprising 84$/ton-CO2, with two additional heat exchangers added to the network. Furthermore, renewable scenario is considered where a parallel electrolysis stage feeds the process hydrogen fuel and oxygen required for combustion in the calciner. This scenario indicates that higher operating costs are incurred due to the expensive green fuel. Finally, a profitability analysis is performed to establish the feasibility for further processing to methanol in a Power-to-X facility. The estimations indicate that the hydrogen price has to go down by 46.3% in order to break-even

Optimal Design of District Heating Networks with Distributed Thermal Energy Storages – Method and Case Study

District heating systems have a great potential for supporting the energy transition towards a renewa-ble energy system, and could also be an option in less dense populated urban districts and rural communities with a medium heat density. In these cases, distributed thermal energy storages at each building could improve the overall system performance by enabling a leaner sizing of the piping sys-tems due to peak-shaving and reducing the heat losses of the distribution grid. But how can distribut-ed storages already be considered within the design of the district heating network itself? And what are the quantitative benefits with respect to the district heating piping system? This paper answers these questions and presents an open-source optimisation approach for designing the piping network of a district heating system. This includes the optimisation of the network topology, the dimensioning of the pipes, and the consideration of distributed storage options. A linear mixed-integer program-ming model with a high spatial resolution including heat storages at each customer has been imple-mented. Within the QUARREE100 project, the approach is demonstrated on a real world case of an existing district with 129 houses in the provincial town Heide in Northern Germany. In the scenario with 1 m³ heat storages, the thermal losses of the district heating network can be reduced by 10.2 % and the total costs by 13.1 %

Integration of water electrolysis facilities in power grids: A case study in northern Germany

Power grid and alkaline water electrolysis models have been coupled through data exchange. Average power line utilization as indicator of grid impacts. Daily-constrained hydrogen production yields low production costs and minimum grid congestion

Agile process systems engineering education:What to teach, and how to teach

peer reviewedThis paper investigates the current and future trends in the teaching of Process Systems Engineering (PSE) topics, addressing what should be taught and how these topics should be taught effectively in a classroom setting. It addresses which key PSE topics should constitute the core requirement of chemical engineering education and which application areas should be included. We surveyed existing courses on novel aspects of PSE applications, as well as polling PSE stakeholders to ascertain their opinion of what is taught and the degree to which graduates skills match their expectations. Existing gaps and interesting prospects have been revealed by the surveys leading to suggestions for the future. The second part of the contribution addresses how best the PSE content should be taught, so that our graduates are equipped to effectively apply their knowledge, given the availability of teaching technologies and the time available to effectively educate our students