EAGER: Optimal Modular Process Synthesis

1650574Manousiouthakis, Vasilios I.页岩地层作为石油和天然气来源的出现，促使人们对利用较轻的可压缩碳氢化合物气体（所谓的天然气液体）作为化工生产原料产生了前所未有的商业兴趣。然而，对于偏远的页岩地层，气体轻端（主要是甲烷）不能轻易运输，这导致了天然气燃烧，伴随着高氢资源的损失，更重要的是，大气中二氧化碳的负担更大，其温室气体影响更大。因此，将“搁浅”甲烷直接转化为较大的液态或可压缩碳氢化合物的技术是非常需要的。传统上，商业化学过程采用了利用“单位规模经济”的放大过程。这需要大量、高风险的资本投资。另一种范例涉及模块化化工厂的部署，通过利用“大规模生产经济”的并行模块使用，可以从小规模发展到大规模。拟议的研究侧重于开发一种系统的方法，用于自动合成全局优化、模块化、强化的工艺流程图，该流程流程图采用各种工艺单元，包括反应器、分离器、泵、压缩机、涡轮机、阀门、热交换器等。所提出的方法将基于使用具有线性约束定义的可行区域的无限维程序，以及捕获“大规模生产经济”的目标函数。他们的解决方案将通过解决不断增加的有限维程序来实现，这些程序始终是可行的，并具有重要的发明能力。本案例研究涉及从天然气中产生乙酸和甲酸的反应。因此，建议建立子系统的替代方法包括蒸汽甲烷重整以及分离共沸物的新方法。这一高风险研究项目的成功完成将对工艺优化方法、工艺强化、模块化制造、化学工艺制造、发电和可再生能源开发产生广泛的积极影响，并将导致创建变革性和革命性的模块化、强化、工艺流程图，并在线性约束方案的优化方面取得进展。该奖项由英国新领域和多学科活动办公室共同资助。

1650574Manousiouthakis, Vasilios I. The emergence of shale formations as a source of oil and natural gas has prompted unprecedented commercial interest in utilizing the lighter compressible hydrocarbon gases (so-called natural gas liquids) as feedstocks for the production of chemicals. For remote shale formations, however, where the gaseous light-ends (predominantly methane) cannot be readily transported, this has led to gas flaring with associated loss of a high-hydrogen resource, and more significantly, a greater atmospheric burden of carbon dioxide with its greenhouse gas impact. Thus, technologies suitable for converting "stranded" methane directly to larger, liquid or compressible hydrocarbons are highly desired. Commercial chemical processes have traditionally been deployed using a scale-up process that takes advantage of "economies of unit scale". This requires large, high risk, capital investments. An alternative paradigm involves the deployment of modular chemical plants that can evolve from small to large scale through parallel module use that takes advantage of "economies of mass production". The proposed research focuses on the development of a systematic methodology for the automatic synthesis of globally optimal, modular, intensified, process flowsheets, that employ a variety of process units, including reactors, separators, pumps, compressors, turbines, valves, heat exchangers, and many others. The proposed methodology will be based on the use of infinite dimensional programs with feasible regions defined by linear constraints, and objective functions which capture "economies of mass production". Their solution will be pursued through solution of finite dimensional programs of ever-increasing size, which always remain feasible and possess significant invention capabilities. The presented case study involves reactions producing acetic acid and formic acid from natural gas. For this reason, alternative methods suggesting the creation of subsystems including the steam methane reforming are presented along with novel ways of separating azeotropes. Successful conclusion of this high-risk research project will have a broad positive impact on process optimization methods, process intensification, modular manufacturing, chemical process manufacturing, power generation, and renewable energy resource development, and will result in the creation of transformative and revolutionary modular, intensified, process flowsheets, and in advances in the optimization of linearly constrained programs.The award is co-funded by the ENG Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities.