A Look Into Process Optimization

Lambert, Joshua Hunter (2015) A Look Into Process Optimization. Undergraduate thesis, under the direction of Adam Smith from Chemical Engineering, University of Mississippi.

Text SMBHC HUNTER FINAL THESIS.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only until 31 May 2021. Download (7MB)

Abstract

The goal for this paper is to inform the reader on the optimization process in chemical engineering design. The reader will gain knowledge about the step-by-step process as well as terminology of the optimization journey. Optimization takes a great amount of work, and it can be a daunting task if one gets caught up in the minute details. However, I will show that looking at the big picture will drastically ease the process and make optimizing much simpler. A base case will first be presented. The base case should be modeled using a process simulator, and then an economic analysis should be performed. The objective function of the base case will then be compared to future optimizations. Next, changes may be presented to the case. Changes must then be simulated and analyzed. Finally, different processes throughout the facility must be optimized to present even more cases. The case that optimizes the objective function is the case that will be chosen as the best. In the final section of the paper, I will present an ethylbenzene plant optimization that was performed earlier. There were decisions that were made based on the performance of the process. I chose to buy a lower grade of benzene feed and used a new catalyst that was offered. Also, I decided to operate the reactor train at high temperature and pressure due to the high benzene conversion. These are my recommendations. The net present value (NPV) of the process is increased by approximately $50 million.

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