Synthesis, Design, and Resource Optimization in Batch Chemical Plants

The manner in which time is captured forms the foundation for synthesis, design, and optimization in batch chemical plants. However, there are still serious challenges with handling time in batch plants.

Most techniques tend to assume either a fixed time dimension or adopt time average models to tame the time dimension, thereby simplifying the resultant mathematical models. A direct consequence of this simplification is a suboptimal process. Synthesis, Design, and Resource Optimization in Batch Chemical Plants aims to close this scientific gap.

Presenting state-of-the art models for the scheduling, synthesis, design, and resource optimization of batch chemical processes, this cutting-edge text:

• Describes different ways to represent and capture time in the optimal allocation of tasks to various units with the objective of maximizing throughput or minimizing makespan
• Covers synthesis and design where the objective is mainly to yield a chemical facility, which satisfies all the targets with minimum capital cost investment
• Deals with resource conservation aspects in batch plants, where water and energy take the center stage

Synthesis, Design, and Resource Optimization in Batch Chemical Plants offers a comprehensive discussion of scheduling techniques, continuous-time formulations, and the synthesis and design of chemical plants that optimally utilize water and energy resources.

Thokozani Majozi is a full professor in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, where he also holds an NRF/DST chair in sustainable process engineering. He was previously an associate professor at the University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. Highly decorated and widely published, he holds a Ph.D from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, UK, and is a member of the Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Academy of Engineering, both of South Africa.

Esmael Reshid Seid obtained his B.Sc in chemical engineering from Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. He worked in the process industry for three years before joining the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where he obtained his M.Sc.Eng and Ph.D in chemical engineering. Dr. Seid has had several publications on design, synthesis, scheduling, and resource conservation, with particular emphasis on water and energy for multipurpose batch plants, featured in international refereed journals.

Jui-Yuan Lee is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan. He received his B.Sc from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, and his Ph.D from National Taiwan University (NTU). He spent two and a half more years at NTU doing postdoctoral research, before joining the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, where he stayed eight months as a postdoctoral fellow. Widely published, Dr. Lee focuses his research on process integration for energy savings and waste reduction using mathematical programming.