Design and synthesis of separation process based on a hybrid method

Abstract

A new general hybrid methodology for separation process synthesis and design is proposed, which considers different separation technologies by integrating mathematical modeling - Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with heuristic approaches and thermodynamic insights. The methodology can provide suitable guidance for the initial separation process design and energy saving. Firstly, a general separation synthesis system based on thermodynamic insights is developed to select suitable separation techniques before sequencing, which reduces the complexity and size of synthesis search space. Then, the pseudo-component concept is proposed and used to deal with the azeotrope contained in the mixture, which widens the scope of the application of the proposed methodology. The AHP method is used to make a separation sequence by pairwise comparison matrices. Lastly, the separation of the pseudo-component will be considered, and it performs energy integration and a detailed process design. Application of the proposed methodology is highlighted through two industrial examples: one is the separation synthesis of a light-end refinery mixture. The other is azeotrope system, the mixture of phenol, o -cresol, p -cresol, and m-cresol. © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.