Computer-Aided Tools for Teaching Sustainable Product-Process Design

Computer-Aided Tools for Teaching Sustainable Product-Process Design

Deenesh K. Babi

Department of Chemical and Bio-chemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Building 229, DK-2800, Kgs. Lyngby Denmark

 

In teaching a course for performing (sustainable) process-product design, different computer-aided tools for generation, selection (and screening) and verification/simulation should be incorporated within the framework of the course. For example, consider the computer-aided process design of a chemical where mass and energy balance data (obtained from the rigorous models) are used for performing a sustainability and LCA analysis. These analyses identify process limitations that are translated into design targets that, if matched, removes and/or eliminates the process limitation, thereby improving the design. This is the approach implemented in teaching (sustainable) process design at the Technical University of Denmark, Department of Chemical and Bio-chemical Engineering. For the sustainability and LCA analysis, the model proposed by the IChemE for calculation of sustainability metrics and the cradle to the gate approach based on ISO framework (ISO 14040) are used, respectively (Carvalho et al., 2013, Kalakul et al., 2014).

In generating a feasible product-process design, it is imperative that the student understands concepts related to phase equilibria, reaction engineering and separation processes. In teaching a course at an advanced level related to product-process design, it is important to disseminate within the course current concepts applied in both R&D and industry. For example, consider the following: given a set of customer/market needs (constraints) for a product, design a prototype product that satisfies the design constraints (product design) or given a CO₂ rich stream as part of a power plant effluent, design a chemical process that has a negative net CO₂ emission (objective function, process design). The student can use a 3-stage approach for performing product-process design. In stage 1, for product, needs are translated into target properties that must be satisfied and, for process, feasible reactions are selected that utilizes CO₂. In stage 2, for product, using property models, compounds (that will constitute the final product) are selected that satisfy property/stability constraints and, for process, flowsheet alternatives are generated for the selected CO₂ reactions. In stage 3, for product, the product is verified trough experiments and /or model based calculations and, for process, the best process for CO₂ utilization is selected based on the calculation and ordering of the objective function followed by process optimization.

In each stage, computer-aided tools are utilized. In stage 1, a database is used (for example, ICAS database). In stage 2, computer-aided molecular design tools are used, for example, ProCAMD (Gani et al., 1997), property prediction tools using group contribution methods, for example, ProPred (Gani et al., 1997), simulation tools, for example, VPPD (the product simulator), PROII (process simulator), etc. In stage 3, model-based tools, for example, MoT (Gani et al., 1997).

In this presentation, a product-process design problem will be formulated and solved, presenting the various computer-aided tools utilized in courses related to (sustainable) product-process design and separation process design. The presentation will interactively highlight the input and output of each tool through examples of different design problems posed to students.

 

References

Carvalho, A., Matos, H. A., & Gani, R. (2013). SustainPro—A tool for systematic process analysis, generation and evaluation of sustainable design alternatives. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 50, 8–27.

Gani, R., Hytoft, G., Jaksland, C., & Jensen, A. K. (1997). An integrated computer aided system for integrated design of chemical processes. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 21(10), 1135–1146.

Kalakul, S., Malakul, P., Siemanond, K., & Gani, R. (2014). Integration of life cycle assessment software with tools for economic and sustainability analyses and process simulation for sustainable process design. Journal of Cleaner Production, 71, 98–109

Mattei, M., Yunus, N. A., Kalakul, S., Kontogeorgis, G. M., Woodley, J. M., Gernaey, K. V., Gani, R., (2014). The Virtual Product-Process Design Laboratory for Structured Chemical Product Design and Analysis, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering33, 61-66