Reliability design of operating procedures for dehydrator regeneration

In order to design more operable or even optimal chemical processes, reliab ility theory is proposed in this paper to support planning of operating pro cedures. A three-tier reasoning framework is constructed to describe the tw o-step quantitative planning strategy. The first step is determination of o ptimal operating path, and the second step is generation of optimal primiti ve operations. Based on the deficiency of the NLP method in obtaining an op timal operating path, this paper presents the knowledge-model (K-M) method in which expert knowledge base is combined with process dynamic model to so lve this problem. Finally, the methodology is illustrated by an example of raising temperature procedures for a subsystem of charge gas dehydrator reg eneration in an ethylene plant. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.