Optimal design of heat-integrated multipurpose batch facilities: a mixed-integer mathematical formulation

This paper presents a mathematical formulation for the detailed design of m ultipurpose batch process facilities with heat integration. This appears as an extension of the design model proposed by Barbosa-Povoa and Macchietto (Compt. Chem. Eng. IS (11/12) (1994) 1013.) where no heat-integration aspec ts were addressed at the design level. Economic savings in utility requirem ents are studied while considering the possibility of having direct plant h eat integration with associated costs of the involved auxiliary equipment, The heat-transfer equipment structures are designed simultaneously with the plant processing and storing equipment as well as the associated connectiv ity. Also, the model developed provides the best heat-integration policy ba sed on a pre-defined objective. The problem is formulated as a mixed-intege r linear problem where, binary variables are introduced to characterise ope rational and topological choices, and continuous ones define the equipment capacities as well as the amounts of material within the overall process. T he applicability of the proposed model is shown via the solution of some il lustrative examples. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.