An MINLP process synthesizer for a sequential modular simulator

This paper deals with the development of a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) synthesizer for sequential modular simulators. Firstly, a variant of the outer approximation/equality relaxation/augmented penalty (OA/ER/AP) algorithm for MINLP problems is presented that makes use of Benders cuts in previous or subsequent iterations. An automatic process synthesis environment is then described for the public version of the ASPEN simulator using this algorithm, with the decomposition strategy by Kocis and Grossmann. The application of this new capability is demonstrated with several examples including the structural optimization of the hydrodealkylation of toluene process.

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