The Role of Process Economics

The purpose of chemical processes is to make money. An understanding of process economics is therefore critical in process design. Process economics has three basic roles in process design  

Evaluation of design options. Costs are required to evaluate process design options for example, should a membrane or an adsorption process be used for purification  

Process optimization. The settings of some process variables can have a major influence on the decision-making in developing the flowsheet and on the overall profitability of the process. Optimization of such variables is usually required. 

Overall project profitability. The economics of the overall project should be evaluated at different stages during the design to assess whether the project is economically viable. 

The cost of a specific item of equipment will be a function of  

---