Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.50, No.5, 2959-2970, 2011
Evolutionary Design Methodology for Resource Allocation Networks with Multiple Impurities
An evolutionary method is proposed for designing resource allocation networks with multiple impurities. With every match possibility considered, the maximum match flow rate matrix (M matrix), potential match flow rate matrix (P matrix), and optimal match flow rate matrix (O matrix) can be determined in turn. Both the complementary advantage of source streams and the supplement possibilities are considered in the design procedure. Furthermore, the minimum flow rate rule and maximum flow rate rule are proposed to guide the design. The proposed method can be applied to resource networks with multiple impurities, no matter whether the utility contains impurities. The application of this method is illustrated by two case studies, and the result's show that this method can successfully identify the minimum utility consumptions and optimal networks.