Systematic Method and Tool for Sustainable Process Synthesis, Design, Analysis and Innovation

Computer-aided tools have been successfully developed and used in different segments of the entire process development cycle. For example, there are established tools for chemical process design, simulation, heat exchanger network synthesis and many more. However, one needs an integrated platform to perform process synthesis, design and analysis of chemical processes in a systematic manner. Also, in order to obtain a truly innovative and sustainable solution, it is necessary to search the entire feasible search space of alternatives and select the best process alternative, which is not very easy and will be time consuming. Therefore, it is beneficial to utilize computer-aided methods and tools to enumerate, analyze and determine within the design space, the more sustainable processes. This work highlights the development of a computer aided methodology and corresponding integrated platform for fast, reliable and consistent generation of process flowsheets. This paper gives an overview of the key concepts and the method is presented along with details of the developed computer-aided tool.