Computer-integrated tools for batch process development

In the current environment of intense market competition, batch process ind ustries stand to benefit from faster process development. Operating procedu re synthesis (OPS) and process hazards analysis (PHA) are two time-consumin g areas in batch process development because they are often manually perfor med. Recently, two intelligent systems - iTOPS and Batch HAZOPExpert (BHE) were developed in our research group to automate OPS and PHA. In this paper , the architecture of the full integration of the two systems is presented. Two applications from specialty chemical industry are presented to demonst rate the utility of the integrated system. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.