The overall purpose of this work is to develop systematic methodology for the
simultaneous design and selection of processes and molecules (materials). A propertybased
approach is used to develop an interface between process and molecular
design/selection. In particular, we focus on the problem of designing/selecting materials
that are used in the context of a recycle/reuse system of process streams and for energy
applications. Fresh and recycled resources (e.g., process streams, biomass, solvents, etc.)
are integrated with the process to satisfy property-based constraints for the process units
and to optimize the usage of the resources and the design of the process. For molecular
design, property operators for mixing streams and group contribution methods (GCM)
are used to consistently represent process sources, sinks, and different functional groups
on the same property-base. For material selection, property based criteria (e.g., heat rate,
high heating value, etc.) are used to bridge the process with material. This consistent
representation enables the definition of the optimization problem formulation for product
design while taking into consideration the recycle/reuse of process streams. In particular,
this dissertation addresses four integrated topics. First, a new graphical approach for
material targeting and substitution is presented. This graphical approach offers initial
solutions and valuable insights that can be effectively used for conceptual design and for
initializing mathematical programming techniques. Second, a mathematical optimization
approach is developed along with a decomposition-based global solution procedure for
material targeting and substitution using property integration. Third, an implementation
approach is developed to synthesize the details of a recycle/reuse process network design based on the targets identified through the graphical and/or the mathematical approaches.
Finally, property integration techniques are extended to a broader scope which deals with
the lifecycle analysis of biomass utilization for energy generation. A generic model is
developed to optimize the types and quantities of the feedstocks used to optimize power
generation with biomass-fossil fuel co-fed system. Important issues of biomass growth,
harvesting, transportation, processing, and disposal are included. Property-based tracking
and constraints are included in the analysis. Also, the issues associated with greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions are incorporated in the analysis. Case studies are solved throughout
the dissertation to demonstrate the applicability of the developed procedures.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4918 |
| Date | 25 April 2007 |
| Creators | Qin, Xiaoyun |
| Contributors | El-Halwagi, Mahmoud M. |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 978605 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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