Process Intensification
Process Intensification
复制标题
DOI：
10.1201/9780203913291.ch1
复制
发表时间：
2019-10
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
A. Citterio
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
A. Citterio
多年来，“过程强化”一词的含义发生了变化，今天仍然没有准确和普遍接受的定义。至少有一个普遍的共识，即过程强化需要一个整体的看法，认为过程作为一个整体系统。但这一术语本身基本上是作为一个集合术语，用于各种旨在“显著”改善进程效率的措施。该定义的问题在于如何区分过程强化与经典过程优化，以及在何种程度上改进才有资格称为“显著”（或“剧烈”）。此外，对过程效率的度量仍然可以相当多样化（例如，能源效率与时间效率），这使得事情变得更加困难。通常，过程强化与引人注目但模糊的口号有关，如“更便宜，更小，更清洁”或“用更少的东西制造更多”。这对于目前在可持续发展方面的讨论可能是适当的。例如，可能增强的企业形象可能是公司实施流程强化解决方案的一个原因。然而，所有这些纯粹描述性和定性的属性无助于更精确地指定“过程强化”一词。在学术界，缺乏一个适当和准确的定义，导致了有争议的讨论是否有必要在所有宣传过程强化作为一个新的学科。因此，显然需要一个明确的定义。在最近的贡献[1]中，提出了一种新的过程强化方法，该方法基于一种概念，该概念通过分析热力学状态空间中的过程路线来鼓励对各个过程步骤的更基本的看法。这有助于确定最佳工艺路线，并为工艺强化备选方案的系统和严格分类提供基础。在下文中，将概述工艺强化措施的可能性，文献中已报告了这些措施可以提高生产率。这些改进可以涉及，例如，- 通过减小单个设备的尺寸或通过将两个或更多个单元操作集成到多功能单元中来减小单个设备的数量来减小设备尺寸。其他强化潜力涉及，例如，具体的能量消耗，所使用的反应物的量和对于特定的生产高度所产生的废产物的量（即，原料效率）。在许多情况下，执行过程改进的措施是偶然发现的，或者是一系列实验研究的经验结果。总而言之，目前既没有理论基础，也没有科学的指导方针，可以概括的过程强化，从而有助于确定过程强化选项时，分析化学过程的效率。图1中给出的分类说明了过程强化的组成部分。过程强化可以通过过程的增强和/或通过过程集成来实现，过程的增强导致更小的设备，过程的集成导致减少的设备数量。
Over the years, the meaning of the term “process intensification” has changed and today, there is still no precise and generally accepted definition. At least there is a general consensus about the fact that process intensification requires a holistic view on the process, considering the process as a whole system. But the term itself is essentially used as a collective term for diverse measures that aim at a “significant” improvement of a process with regard to its efficiency. The problem with that definition is how one can distinguish process intensification from classical process optimization and to what extent an improvement qualifies as “significant” (or “drastic”). In addition, the measure for the efficiency of a process can still be quite diverse (e.g., energy efficiency vs. time efficiency) which makes things even more difficult. Often, process intensification is associated with striking but vague catch phrases like “cheaper, smaller, cleaner” or “making more with less”. This may be appropriate regarding current discussions in the context of sustainable development. For example, the possibly enhanced corporate image might be one reason for companies to implement process intensification solutions. However, all these purely descriptive and qualitative attributes do not contribute to specify the term “process intensification” more precisely. In the academic community, the lack of an appropriate and exact definition has led to controversial discussions about whether it is necessary at all to propagate process intensification as a new discipline. Hence, there is a clear need of a distinct definition. In a recent contribution [1] a new approach to process intensification has been proposed, based on a concept which encourages a more fundamental view on the individual process steps by analyzing process routes in the thermodynamic state space. This allows for the identification of optimal process routes and provides a basis for a systematic and rigorous classification of process intensification options. In the following, possibilities for process intensification measures will be outlined for which improvements in productivity have been reported in the literature. These improvements can concern, e.g., a reduction of the plant size by reducing the size of single apparatuses or by reducing the number of the latter by integrating two or more unit operations into a multifunctional unit. Other intensification potentials concern, e.g., the specific energy consumption, the amount of reactants used and of waste products being produced for a specified production height (i.e., the feedstock efficiency). In many cases, the measures to perform the process improvements have been found incidentally or as an empirical result of a series of experimental studies. To summarize, there is currently neither a theoretical basis nor are there scientific guidelines for process intensification available that can be generalized and thus help to identify process intensification options when analyzing a chemical process as to its efficiency. The categorization given in Figure 1 illustrates the constituents of process intensification. Process intensification can be achieved by an enhancement of processes which leads to smaller apparatuses and/or by process integration which leads to a reduced number of