626e Systematic Methods for Process Synthesis and Design

Lorenz T. Biegler, Department of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Over the past four decades, process design has evolved into a systematic approach to synthesize, develop, improve and evaluate a chemical process - both from technical and economic viewpoints. This approach can be viewed from a number of different levels that include a hierarchy of alternatives, thermodynamic insights and pinch concepts, heuristics that guide decision-making and especially mathematical models for analysis and optimization. Moreover, these strategies have evolved and matured to a level suitable for undergraduate education.

This talk outlines this systematic decision-making framework for design education that combines the above concepts. A number of case study projects are presented along with an outline of the course sequence.