An Extended Algorithm of Flexibility Analysis in Chemical Engineering Processes

An extended algorithm of flexibility analysis with a local adjusting method for flexibility region of chemical processes, which is based on the active constraint strategy, is proposed, which fully exploits the flexibility region of the process system operation. The hyperrectangular flexibility region determined by the extended algorithm is larger than that calculated by the previous algorithms. The limitation of the proposed algorithm due to imperfect convexity and its corresponding verification measure are also discussed. Both numerical and actual chemical process examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new algorithm.