CAREER: Process Operations: Decision Making Under Uncertainty

整个供应链企业的动态优化的挑战之一是严格处理不确定性和风险因素。 不确定性出现在化工行业的所有不同层面，从详细的工艺描述到多地点制造，因此，成功利用工艺模型在很大程度上依赖于处理系统可变性的能力。 这项工作的总体科学目标是定量研究过程操作中的不确定性的影响，并提出一种方法，系统地纳入决策过程中的不确定性。 将在工艺操作的所有阶段以综合方式进行不确定性分析，同时考虑与传播相关的相互作用和不确定性。 该项目的第一阶段集中在生产步骤之一，短期调度，而下一阶段解决复杂动力学网络的详细过程描述中的不确定性。 最后一个阶段是关于可持续发展环境的设计和运作中的不确定性和风险考虑，教育目标是：（1）开发一个基于网络和多媒体技术的创新教学环境，使人们能够动手互动地使用方法、工具、算法和例子;以及（2）将探究式学习技巧纳入新课程，并扩展现有过程系统工程课程的版本，以扩大对以下人员的接触：代表道格拉斯女子大学本科生团体。 过程系统工程领域主要侧重于实际应用和新技术，为显着改变化学工程教学方式提供了很好的机会。 计划的活动扩展到本科和研究生一级的模块，以涵盖有效解决设计，合成和操作问题的所有可用工具。

Among the challenges for the dynamic optimization of the entire supply chain enterprise is the rigorous treatment of uncertainty and risk factors. Uncertainty appears in all the different levels of the chemical industry from the detailed process description to multi-site manufacturing, so that the successful utilization of process models relies heavily on the ability to handle system variability. The overall scientific objective of this work is to investigate quantitatively the effects of uncertainty in process operations and to propose a methodology for the systematic incorporation of uncertainty in the decision-making process. Uncertainty analysis will be performed in all stages of process operations in an integrated way, taking into consideration the interactions and uncertainty associated with propagation. The first stage of the project concentrates on one of the production steps, short-term scheduling, while the next stage addresses the uncertainty in the detailed process description of complex kinetic networks. The final stage is concerned with the uncertainty and risk consideration in design and operation for a sustainable environment.The educational objectives are: (1) the development of an innovative instructional environment based on the Web and multi-media technology that enables hands-on interactive use of methods, tools, algorithms and examples; and (2) the incorporation of inquiry-based learning techniques into new courses and extending a version of existing ones in the area of process systems engineering to increase outreach to under-represented groups of undergraduate students at Douglas Undergraduate College for Women. The area of process systems engineering that mainly focuses on practical applications and new technologies offers a great opportunity to significantly alter the way in which chemical engineering is taught. The activities planned extend over undergraduate and graduate level modules to cover all the available tools for the effective solution of design, synthesis and operations problems.