A method for reactor synthesis based on process intensification principles and optimization of superstructure consisting of phenomenological modules

Abstract

A novel method for reaction synthesis is proposed. The method establishes strong interconnection between process intensification (PI) principles and process system engineering (PSE) techniques, which are used for problem formulation and optimization. The general aim is to demonstrate a potential for innovative solutions that combine both optimal reactor structure and its operational regime. The method consists of three stages: (I) Reaction Screening, in which phenomenological modules are defined; (II) Reaction System Superstructure and Mathematical Modeling in which modules (building blocks) are connected in a generic reactor superstructure; and (III) Optimization in which optimal structure and operational regime is derived, using techno-economical objective function and different optimization methods. The proposed method is demonstrated on a general example of two parallel endothermic reactions in liquid phase. The optimization results show that continuous steady-state reactor system outperforms fed-batch reactor and has similar performance as more complex periodically operated continuous reactor, and thus presents the optimal solution.