M.P.C. Weijnen

Critical Infrastructures at Risk

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Integrated optimal reliable design, production, and maintenance planning for multipurpose process plants

In multipurpose process plants, which are characterized by sharing different resources (equipment, manpower etc.) for production, unplanned equipment shutdown could affect the timely production of products and hence process profitability. Many approaches have been proposed to ensure high equipment availability by combining design, production, and scheduling frameworks with a maintenance optimization framework. In these approaches, the initial reliability characteristics of equipment, which also determine equipment availability, are considered fixed by problem definition. In this work, a combined design, production and maintenance planning formulation for multipurpose process plants is extended to incorporate the reliability allocation problem at the design stage. A simultaneous optimization framework is presented that addresses the problem of optimal allocation of reliability among equipment simultaneously with the selection of process configuration, production and maintenance planning for multipurpose process plants at the design stage. This framework provides the designer with the opportunity to select the initial reliability of equipment at the design stage by balancing the associated costs with its impact on the design and the availability in the operational stage. The overall problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model, and its applicability is demonstrated using a number of examples.

Integrating reliability optimization into chemical process synthesis

Abstract The growing need to achieve high availability for large integrated chemical process systems demands higher levels of system reliability at the operational stage. In these circumstances, it has become critical to consider the reliability aspects of a system and its components at the design stage. Traditional reliability/availability analysis methods and maintenance optimization frameworks, commonly applied at the design stage, are limited in their application, as in most of these methods the designer is required to specify the process system components, their connectivity and their reliabilities a priori . As a result, these traditional methods do not provide the flexibility to reconfigure a process or select initial reliabilities of equipment in a way that maximizes the inherent plant availability at the design stage. In this paper, we developed an optimization framework by combining the reliability optimization and process synthesis challenges and the combined optimization problem is posed as a mixed integer non-linear programming optimization problem. The proposed optimization framework features an expected profit objective function, which takes into account the trade-off between initial capital investment and the annual operational costs by supporting appropriate estimation of revenues, investment cost, raw material and utilities cost, and maintenance cost as a function of the system and its component availability. The effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed optimization framework is demonstrated for the synthesis of the hydrodealkylation process (HDA) process.

Critical infrastructures: the need for international risk governance

Infrastructures (e.g., electric power system, transportation system, information and communication systems) were not designed as integrated systems, as they are operating today. Some infrastructures, e.g., energy, water supply and telecommunications, are so vital and ubiquitous that their incapacity or destruction would affect security and the social welfare of any nation and cascade across borders. They are exposed to multiple threats (terrorist attacks, natural disasters, institutional changes) and their failure might induce risks to other interconnected systems. The paper outlines the urgent need to address such problems with appropriate risk governance and in-time policy analysis at an international level.

Innovation in networked infrastructures: coping with complexity

Institutional and technological changes concerning networked infrastructures, and increasing interdependency between these infrastructures necessitate a different view on their design and management. Responsibilities are no longer in one hand as they often used to be, and failures in systems may impact larger parts of the infrastructures, leading to serious service disruptions. This paper describes the research framework that is being developed within the Next Generation Infrastructures research programme, to cope with the increasing complexity.

A concurrent engineering approach to chemical process design

Abstract Much confusion still surrounds the concurrent engineering design concept in the chemical engineering world. The conventional hierarchical design method is compared to the concurrent engineering concept, and it is shown that the CE concept particularly improves the way a chemical design engineer deals with “external factors” that influence a process design. A framework is introduced to easily identify and classify these external factors. Through a number of industrial case studies, the current design methods have been analyzed, and improvements are identified. The flexibility of the plant can be improved by using a concurrent approach.

Quality criteria for process design in the design process — industrial case studies and an expert panel

Abstract Research into the design processes at industrial operating companies and engineering contractors revealed that no explicit, well-defined set of quality criteria is available to judge the final design. A well-defined set of quality factors might reduce the number of iteration loops in the design process and might also support the designer in achieving a better final design. A number of industrial case studies and a meeting with an expert-panel provided useful insights into a possible set of quality criteria, and revealed explicit as well as implicit, ill-defined quality criteria. The criteria as stated in the ‘Basis of Design’ were seen as the most important quality criteria in industrial practice, however many other implicit and ill-defined criteria were also found to play an important role. The expert-panel, which consists of professionals from industry and from academia, discussed the subject thoroughly using an electronic meeting room. Many quality criteria were formulated and many ill-defined and qualitative aspects were mentioned. The expert-panel established a ranking of the quality criteria and ill-defined criteria ranked high in the established hierarchy. An indication was given of when the most important quality criteria were introduced into the design process. This resulted in identifying a need to consider quality criteria earlier in the design process. According to the expert panel, this is still very hard to achieve in practice, therefore a system, which will be implemented as a software tool, is being developed. The tool is designed to support the designer in defining the set of relevant explicit and implicit quality criteria, and in considering these quality criteria from the beginning to the end of the design process.

DESIGN OF TRIGENERATION SYSTEMS Process Integrated Applications of Energy Conversion Devices in Chemical Plants

In the conceptual design of trigeneration systems, which combine the production of chemicals, power, and heat, an energy conversion device is considered a chemical plants unit operation. A method is presented whereby options can be identified for the integration of such devices in chemical plants. Firstly, all functions of the energy conversion device must be described. Secondly, the functions of the auxiliary equipment present in a stand-alone power system must be summarised. Third, a chemical process has to be selected which can perform some of the functions of the power systems auxiliary equipment. The integration of a fuel cell in a methanol plant illustrates the application of the method.

Towards Intelligently - Sustainable Cities?

In the quest for achieving sustainable cities, Intelligent and Knowledge City Programmes (ICPs and KCP s) represent cost-efficient strategies for improving the overall performance of urban systems . However, even though nobody argues on the desirability of making cities “smarter”, the fundamental questions of how and to what extent can ICPs and KCPs contribute to the achievement of urban sustainability lack a precise answer. In the attempt of providing a structured answer to these interrogatives, this paper presents a methodology developed for investigating the modalities through which ICPs and KCPs contribute to the achievement or urban sustainability. Results suggest that ICPs and KCPs efficacy lies in supporting cities achieve a sustainable urban metabolism through optimization, innovation and behavior changes.

Functional Modelling for a Sustainable Petrochemical Industry

In a transition towards a sustainable petrochemical industry, its systemic structure and functions must be considered degrees-of-freedom in the search for and the specification of development options that reach beyond traditional research and development (R&D) and beyond the optimization of proven technology, proven system concepts and established process networks. Functional modelling allows technology-free specification of systems, generalization of system concepts, and recalibration of the use or value of substances in a petrochemical network. It facilitates moving up or down the ladder of system aggregation levels, which llows one to ‘step out of the box’ to the plant or chemical complex level, or alternatively to connect to the unit-operation level. Application to the aromatics industry serves to illustrate that thereby the abstraction from present system content and from proven technology is achieved, which allows the specification of the desired content of technological inventions that enable or rely upon changes in system structure: process system innovations. The realization of trigenerate functions through the petrochemical industry involves a paradigm-shift. Rather than considering the industry a threatening source of pollution, safety and health risks, it is an enabler of global CO2 emission reduction.