PROCESS DESIGN and OPTIMIZATION

Faculty: Barna, Crowl, Rogers

Our department has a strong capability in process design that is nationally recognized as a result of continuing student success in AIChE National Design competitions. Three faculty members, Barna, Rogers, Crowl, and Senior Research Engineer, Kline teach the year-long required senior Plant Design sequence. These teaching faculty are joined by researchers from other departments and colleges to form a broad-based, multidisciplinary team. This collective faculty expertise is reflected in a number of research projects in the areas of conceptual process design, process optimization, process evaluation, process economics, and energy management.

Research efforts in the process design and improvement area are frequently supported in whole or in part by industry and sometimes involve industrial internships for graduate students. Using partnering arrangements, research projects in the design area have been supported by 3M, Amoco Oil, Champion International, Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, DuPont, M. W. Kellogg, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, Peninsula Copper Industries, Recovery Specialists, and other chemical process and manufacturing concerns.

Frequently, one of the products of research into process improvement strategies is computer software in the form of design tools. A large software development project, the Clean Process Advisory System (CPAS), is currently being jointly sponsored by the US EPA and industrial partners. This multidisciplinary effort involves researchers with expertise in environmental engineering, process design, safety and risk, geological engineering, and other disciplines.

Several MTU faculty with interests in design research, led by Barna and Rogers, are creating a Process Analysis and Diagnostic Center that will provide an initial point of contact for companies seeking research assistance and collaboration. The center will coordinate activities leading to a solution for each industrial client by bringing together the appropriate faculty, staff, and student expertise for the research opportunity.

Selected Research Software

• HYSYS Process Simulation Software
• SuperTarget for Heat Exchanger Network
• (HEN) Analysis
• AspenPlus
• CPAS: Design Options Ranking Tool
• MultiComponent Short-Cut Distillation Software to estimate physical properties
• Adsorption Simulation Software
• Physical Property Management System

Selected Theses/Dissertations

• Clean Process Advisory System: Design Comparison Tools, PhD dissertation, A. Figueroa, in progress, 1998.
• Design Manual for Pollution Prevention Applications of Adsorption Separation Processes for Solvent Recovery from Gas Streams, MS thesis, R. Bosio, in progress, 1998.
• Development of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Strategies for Designing Clean, Safe, and Economical Chemical Manufacturing Processes, MS thesis, W. Dechapanya, in progress, 1998.
• Design Manual for Pollution Prevention Applications of Adsorption/Stripping Processes for Solvent Recovery from Gas Streams, MS thesis, C. Sangwichien, in progress, 1998.
• Conceptual Design Stage Chemical Process Evaluation to Optimize Economic, Safety, and Pollution Prevention Attributes: A Comprehensive Assessment of Heat and Power Cogeneration Processes, MS thesis, J. Herlevich, 1996.
• Development of Software for Chemical Process Evaluation, MS thesis, T. Toth, 1995.