Hierarchical Approach of Process Integration: Resource Conservation Through a Hierarchical Approach of Mass and Energy Integration

Resource conservation is one of the key goals of chemical processes. A typical plant consumes fresh resources like (raw materials, power, fuel and utilities) produces products, by-products and wastes: the challenge is to develop a systematic procedure and visualization tools to aid engineers in simultaneously determining optimum raw material & fuel requirements, optimum recycle/recovery opportunities, optimum heating/cooling requirements, optimum waste disposal strategy, optimum utility selection & optimum power cogeneration potential to minimize annual operating cost while satisfying all the process requirements. The abovementioned challenges are highly interactive, complex, and combinatorial. It is necessary to develop a systematic and generally applicable approach to the problem. The book introduces first holistic hierarchical systems approach to the integrated management of energy and material utilities of the process along with waste management. Detailed case studies demonstrate improvements from current integration technique. The book is a must read for students and professionals working in the process systems engineering area.