A multicriteria process synthesis approach to the design of sustainable and economic utility systems

Abstract The proper design criteria for a modern utility plant should include both environmental and economic requirements. In other words, not only the capital and operating costs of a utility plant but also the corresponding utility wastes must be minimised. The paper presents a systematic multicriteria process synthesis approach for designing sustainable and economic utility systems. The proposed approach enables the design engineer to systematically derive optimal utility systems which are economically sustainable and economic by embedding Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles within a multiple objective optimisation framework. It combines the merits of total site analysis, LCA, and multi-objective optimisation techniques