Es. Fraga, THE AUTOMATED SYNTHESIS OF COMPLEX-REACTION SEPARATION PROCESSES USING DYNAMIC-PROGRAMMING, Chemical engineering research & design, 74(A2), 1996, pp. 249-260
The synthesis of complex processes, those involving reaction and separ
ation sections with recycle streams and with heat integration, is a co
mputationally difficult task. It is also a task which is difficult to
formulate. This paper describes a discrete programming approach, using
dynamic programming techniques, for the automated synthesis of such p
rocesses. The problem formulation is easy and results are generated qu
ickly, encouraging experimentation by the user, a desirable objective
in the early stages of design. The use of dynamic programming enables
the generation of multiple solutions, each of which is near optimal, p
roviding the user with a small set of good alternatives. This small se
t of alternatives can then be analysed using more rigorous continuous
optimization techniques, fine tuning some of the continuous parameters
in the solutions.