Process optimization nonlinear programming

With many variables and constraints, linear and nonlinear programming may be applicable, as well as various numerical gradient search methods. Maximum principle and dynamic programming are laborious and have had only limited applications in this area. The various mathematical techniques are explained and illustrated, for instance, by Edgar and Himmelblau Optimization of Chemical Processes, McGraw-Hill, 1988). 

The term nonlinear in nonlinear programming does not refer to a material or geometric nonlinearity but instead refers to the nonlinearity in the mathematical optimization problem itself. The first step in the optimization process involves answering questions such as what is the buckling response, what is the vibration response, what is the deflection response, and what is the stress response Requirements usually exist for every one of those response variables. Putting those response characteristics and constraints together leads to an equation set that is inherently nonlinear, irrespective of whether the material properties themselves are linear or nonlinear, and that nonlinear equation set is where the term nonlinear programming comes from. 

In an earlier section, we had alluded to the need to stop the reasoning process at some point. The operationality criterion is the formal statement of that need. In most problems we have some understanding of what properties are easy to determine. For example, a property such as the processing time of a batch is normally given to us and hence is determined by a simple database lookup. The optimal solution to a nonlinear program, on the other hand, is not a simple property, and hence we might look for a simpler explanation of why two solutions have equal objective function values. In the case of our branch-and-bound problem, the operationality criterion imposes two requirements ... 

Bauer, M. H. and J. Stichlmair. Design and Economic Optimization of Azeotropic Distillation Process Using Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming. Comput Chem Eng 22 1271-1286 (1998). 

Although, as explained in Chapter 9, many optimization problems can be naturally formulated as mixed-integer programming problems, in this chapter we will consider only steady-state nonlinear programming problems in which the variables are continuous. In some cases it may be feasible to use binary variables (on-off) to include or exclude specific stream flows, alternative flowsheet topography, or different parameters. In the economic evaluation of processes, in design, or in control, usually only a few (5-50) variables are decision, or independent, variables amid a multitude of dependent variables (hundreds or thousands). The number of dependent variables in principle (but not necessarily in practice) is equivalent to the number of independent equality constraints plus the active inequality constraints in a process. The number of independent (decision) variables comprises the remaining set of variables whose values are unknown. Introduction into the model of a specification of the value of a variable, such as T = 400°C, is equivalent to the solution of an independent equation and reduces the total number of variables whose values are unknown by one. 

Next, we need to clarify some of the jargon that you will find in the literature and documentation associated with commercial codes that involve process simulators. Two major types of optimization algorithms exist for nonlinear programming. 

Flowsheet optimization is also regarded as a key task in the structural optimization of a flowsheet. As a described in the introduction, structural optimization for process design can be formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear program (MINLP). This then allows for addition or replacement of existing units, and consideration of a number of design options simultaneously. In these formulations individual units are turned on and off over the course of the optimization, as suggested by the MINLP master problem. 

A nonlinear programming technique for the optimization of continuous processes. Management Science, 7, 379. 

Zenios (1995) to the problem of capacity expansion of power systems. The problem was formulated as a large-scale nonlinear program with variance of the scenario-dependent costs included in the objective function. Another application using variance is employed by Bok, Lee, and Park (1998), also within a robust optimization framework of Mulvey, Vanderbei, and Zenios (1995), for investment in the long-range capacity expansion of chemical process networks under uncertain demands. 

Biegler, L. T. Advanced Nonlinear Programming Methods for Chemical Process Optimization University of Wisconsin-Madison., O. A. Hougen Lecture, September 22 (2009). 

In the present study, the problem is written as a nonlinear programming problem and is solved with SQP technique. Two process models are evaluated when the process is optimized using the SQP technique. The first one is a deterministic model with the kinetic parameters determined by Atala et al. (1), and the second one is a statistical model obtained using the factorial design technique combined with simulation. 

Most of the optimization techniques in use today have been developed since the end of World War II. Considerable advances in computer architecture and optimization algorithms have enabled the complexity of problems that are solvable via optimization to steadily increase. Initial work in the field centered on studying linear optimization problems (linear programming, or LP), which is still used widely today in business planning. Increasingly, nonlinear optimization problems (nonlinear programming, or NLP) have become more and more important, particularly for steady-state processes. 

Himmelblau, D.M., "Optimal Design Via Structural Parameters and Nonlinear Programming." U.S. Japan Joint Seminar on Application of Process Systems Engineering to Chemical Technology Assessment, Kyoto, Japan, June 1975. 

A process-synthesis problem can be formulated as a combination of tasks whose goal is the optimization of an economic objective function subject to constraints. Two types of mathematical techniques are the most used mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), and mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP). 

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