Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez

A design method for internal heat integrated distillation columns (iHIDiCs)

Abstract Distillation of close-boiling mixtures, such as propylene-propane and ethyl benzene-styrene systems, is an energy intensive process. Vapor recompression (VRC) techniques and heat pumping-assisted columns have been adopted for such applications for their high potential of energy savings. In direct vapor recompression columns, the vapor leaving the top of the distillation column is compressed and then it is condensed in the reboiler of the same column, providing the heat needed for vapor generation. Internal heat integrated distillation columns (iHIDiCs) also use the concept of vapor recompression. These column configurations combine the advantages of both direct vapor recompression and adiabatic operation, and can have significantly lower energy demands than common VRC columns. In iHIDiCs, rectifying column is operated at a higher pressure and temperature than the stripping, and therefore its heat can be used to generate vapor in stripping section. The paper presents a hierarchy design procedure for iHIDiCs in two phases: thermodynamic and hydraulic analysis. In the thermodynamic design, the temperature profiles for both column sections are used as a design tool to generate design alternatives. In addition the model is proposed based on hydraulic calculations and tray geometry analysis, to quantify the column capacity for heat transfer.

Exploiting the use of a flexible recipe framework to manage financial risk

Abstract This work explores the use of the flexible recipe framework as a manner to manage the risk associated with the operation of batch chemical plants under uncertain market trends. The scheduling problem under uncertainty is mathematically formulated as a multi-objective mixed integer linear problem accounting for the maximization of the expected profit and minimization of risk. A decomposition strategy based on the Sample Average Approximation (SAA) is applied to overcome the numerical difficulties associated with such mathematical formulation.

Integrating process operations and finances for the optimal design of chemical supply chains

Abstract The tight profit margins under which the Chemical Process Industry (CPI) operates are forcing companies to pay more and more attention to the design and operation of their Supply Chains (SC). Traditional approaches available in the Process Systems Engineering (PSE) literature to address the design and operation of chemical SC focus on the process operations side and neglect the financial part of the problem. This work deals with the design and retrofit of chemical SC and proposes a novel framework that consists in the inclusion of financial considerations at the strategic decision-making level. Within this framework, decisions that have a long-lasting effect on the firm are assessed through integrated models which are capable of holistically optimising the combined effects of process operations and finances. The main advantages of the proposed holistic approach are highlighted through a case study, in which the integrated approach is compared with the traditional myopic method that pursues a fairly simple performance indicator as objective and neglect the financial variables and constraints of the problem. The integrated solution not only ensures the feasibility of the strategic decisions from the financial viewpoint but also leads to superior performance in terms of value measures.

CAPE tools in biotechnology: why, when, what, who, which ones and where?

Abstract An educational model is currently under implementation in the School of Chemical Engineering (ETSEQ) at the University Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) to enable Biotechnology students to integrate, technical knowledge encompassing social skills (teamwork, cooperation, planning, decision making, problem-solving abilities, communication skills…). This model is based on the deployment of a project-based cooperative learning approach across the Biotechnology curriculum (1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd courses). The approach in Biotechnology has to balance the different (and, in some cases, opposite) interests of the Schools/Faculties/Departments involved in teaching, and the application is limited to those subjects where the responsible do follow this new teaching methodologies. In all courses classical teaching, experimental and virtual laboratories and CAPE tools had to be coordinated to solve an open-ended project ( i. e. with many valid approaches and different proper solutions). As the project slogan says, ‘ Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment ’. A similar model has been successfully implemented for more than a decade in the Chemical Engineering curriculum.