Frontiers in Chemical Engineering Research Needs and Opportunities (1988) / Chapter Skim
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8 Computer-Assisted Process and Control Engineering
8 Computer-Assisted Process and Control Engineering
Pages 135-152
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From page 136... ...
In the future, computer programs incorporating artificial intelligence or expert systems will help engineers design improved chemical processes more efficiently. Complex computations based on fundamental engineering knowledge will allow engineers to design reactors that can virtually eliminate undesired by-products, making processes less complex and less polluting.
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From page 137... ...
This setting, which will address the need for new chemical processes and products by harnessing almost unimaginable computing power, will provide significant new research opportunities in chemical engineering. USING THE COMPUTER'S POTENTIAL Each decade over the last 35 years has seen the processing speed of newly designed computers increase by a factor of about 100 owing to advances in the design of electronic microcircuits and other computer hardware.
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From page 138... ...
Before the advent of modern computer-aided mathematics, most mathematical models of real chemical processes were so idealized that they had severely limited utility being reduced to one dimension and a few variables, or linearized, or limited to simplified variability of parameters. The increased availability of supercomputers along with progress in computational mathematics and numerical functional analysis is revolutionizing the way in which chemical engineers approach the theory and engineering of chemical processes.
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From page 139... ...
As models are improved, it may become possible to evaluate design decisions with more confidence, and bypass the pilot plant stage. Process technologies for which the use of more comprehensive mathematical models can result in major improvements include those for biochemical reaction processing; high-performance polymers, plastics, composites, and ceramics; chemical reaction processing (e.g., reaction injection molding, reaction coating, chemical vapor deposition)
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From page 140... ...
A program to encourage the greater dissemination of advanced computational techniques and hardware will offer challenges and opportunities to computational mathematicians and numerical analysts, to engineering scientists, to applications and software experts in firms that develop and manufacture supercomputers, and, above all, to perceptive leaders in high-technology process industries. The following sections describe in more detail a number of areas in chemical engineering in which the ability to develop and apply detailed mathematical models should yield substantial rewards.
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From page 141... ...
After a hydrocarbon reservoir has been located, the flow of oil, water, gas, and possibly injected chemicals in the reservoir must be modeled. This challenge is particularly appropriate for chemical engineers working with petroleum engineers because of the important role played by molecular level interactions between oil, subsurface water, and rock.
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From page 142... ...
When or if the reservoir is successfully simulated, the engineer can turn to optimizing petroleum recovery, and theoretical ideas can be applied to models for various enhanced recovery methods to select optimal procedures and schedules (see Chapter 71. Combustion Systems Combustion is one of the oldest and most basic chemical processes (Plate 61.
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From page 143... ...
The availability of process simulators has probably been the most important development in the design of petrochemical plants in the past 20 years, cutting design times drastically and resulting in better designed plants. Although the available simulators have done much to achieve superior design of petrochemical processes, there is considerable room for improvement.
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From page 144... ...
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From page 145... ...
We need to extend the conceptual and final design procedures that have been developed for petrochemical processes to processes for producing polymers, biochemicals, and electronic devices. We also must develop systematic synthesis/analysis procedures for studying batch processes analogous to the procedures that have been developed for studying continuous petrochemical processes.
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From page 146... ...
Control is becoming a part of process design; simulation and optimization are becoming components of control design. Research opportunities in process operations and control lie in three areas: · collection of information through process measurements; · interpretation and communication of information by use of process models; and · utilization of information through control algorithms and control strategies for both normal and abnormal operation.
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From page 147... ...
Integration of Process Design with Control Most continuous plants are now designed for steady-state operation with little regard for the ease (or difficulty) with which the steady state can be maintained through control.
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From page 148... ...
The problem of model-plant mismatch is of crucial importance in the design of adaptive controllers for processes since it is that very mismatch that drives changes in the controller parameters. The engineering theory and methodology for designing reliable adaptive controllers for chemical processes are in the earliest stages of development.
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From page 149... ...
Batch Process Engineering The production of fine and specialty chemicals, which are usually made by batch processes, is becoming increasingly important and competitive. The efficient operation of multiproduct and multipurpose batch plants offers a variety of challenging research problems for chemical engineers.
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From page 150... ...
Unfortunately, current biological sensors are extremely delicate. Even when the biological reagents are immobilized on a solid carrier, such sensors require careful construction and frequent recalibration, are not always amenable to automation or unattended operation, and sometimes have inconsistent dynamic response and limited life.
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From page 151... ...
Chemical engineers are well positioned to contribute to the development of improved process sensors in a variety of ways, including · work in interdisciplinary collaborations with electronic engineers, biologists, analytical chemists, and others to elucidate the biological, chemical, and physical interactions to be measured; · application of fundamental principles of reaction engineering and transport phenomena to the design of sensor surfaces; · development of new process control systems and operation strategies in response to improved capabilities for measurement; and · determination of the implications for process design of wholly new types of process sensors. PROCESS ENGINEERING INFORMATION MANAGEMENT In the next decade, competition among industrialized countries will be influenced by the way in which information and knowledge are managed in industry.
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From page 152... ...
For the full potential of the computer to be realized in improved design of chemical products and the improved design and operation of processes to FRAN TIERS IN CHE`~ ICAL E.~.N'EE,~G produce them, chemical engineers must be broadly versed in advanced computer technology. This can only happen if they have access to state-of-the-art computational tools throughout their educational careers, not in an isolated course or two.
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