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Process flow sheet synthesis: Systems‐level design applied to synthetic crude production
Author(s) -
Fox James Alistair,
Hildebrandt Diane,
Glasser David,
Patel Bilal
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.15818
Subject(s) - process engineering , process (computing) , work (physics) , production (economics) , electricity , process design , mechanical engineering , flow (mathematics) , unit operation , process integration , electricity generation , computer science , engineering , chemical engineering , mathematics , power (physics) , geometry , electrical engineering , economics , macroeconomics , operating system , physics , quantum mechanics
A novel approach for conceptual design for process flow sheets at the “systems‐level” is showcased in this article. A graphical technique, called the “GH‐space,” is used to analyze the flows of material, heat and work within a process to provide insight into the interactions of various units within the process. Any unit process, which interacts with the surroundings by transferring heat and work, can be represented as a vector on the GH‐space. While material and energy balances are normally performed on a flowsheet, this vectored approach allows the material and energy balances to be used to construct a flowsheet. This article focuses on using the GH‐space to synthesis a synthetic fuels flowsheet. It was shown that a process could be designed that not only produced the desired product but could also consume carbon dioxide as a feed, along with the feeds of methane and oxygen, and could even potentially generate electricity. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 63: 5413–5424, 2017