Managing complex systems: some trends for the future of chemical and process engineering

Abstract In today's economy, chemical engineering must respond to the changing needs of the chemical process industry in order to meet market demands. The evolution of chemical engineering is necessary to remain competitive in global trade. The ability of chemical engineering to cope with managing complex systems met in scientific and technological problems is addressed in this paper. Chemical engineering is vital for sustainability: to satisfy both the market requirements for specific end-use properties of products and the social and environmental constraints of industrial-scale processes. An integrated system approach of complex multidisciplinary, non-linear, non-equilibrium processes and phenomena occurring on different length and time scales is required. This will be obtained due to breakthroughs in molecular modelling, scientific instrumentation and related signal processing and powerful computational tools. The future of chemical engineering can be summarized by four main objectives: (1) Increase productivity and selectivity through intensification of intelligent operations and a multiscale approach to process control; (2) Design novel equipment based on scientific principles and new production methods: process intensification; (3) Extend chemical engineering methodology to product design and engineering using the “triplet 3PE molecular Processes-Product-Process Engineering” approach; (4) Implement multiscale application of computational chemical engineering modelling and simulation to real-life situations from the molecular scale to the production scale.

[1]  Massimo Morbidelli,et al.  Continuous reactive chromatography , 2001 .

[2]  Pierre M. Adler,et al.  Modeling of morphogenesis of polyolefin particles: Catalyst fragmentation , 2003 .

[3]  Bertrand Braunschweig,et al.  CAPE‐OPEN (CO) Standards: Implementation and Maintenance , 2001 .

[4]  Raghunath V. Chaudhari,et al.  Selective hydrogenation of 1,5,9-cyclododecatriene in up- and down-flow fixed-bed reactors: experimental observations and modeling , 2001 .

[5]  Alexandre C. Dimian,et al.  Fatty acid esterification by reactive distillation. Part 1: equilibrium-based design , 2003 .

[6]  Rafiqul Gani,et al.  Chemical product design: challenges and opportunities , 2004, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[7]  Christian Guizard,et al.  Membrane technology and supercritical fluids: chemical engineering for coupled processes , 2002 .

[8]  Edward L Cussler,et al.  Chemical product engineering , 2003 .

[9]  H. Fujita,et al.  Silicon array of elongated through-holes for monodisperse emulsion droplets , 2002 .

[10]  Milorad P. Dudukovic.  Trends in catalytic reaction engineering , 1999 .

[11]  A. Laesecke,et al.  Fluid Properties and New Technologies , 2002 .

[12]  Arup K. Chakraborty,et al.  Decoding communications between cells in the immune system using principles of chemical engineering , 2003 .

[13]  Rajamani Krishna,et al.  Reactive Separations: More Ways to Skin a Cat , 2001 .

[14]  Jackie Y. Ying,et al.  Reverse microemulsion synthesis of nanostructured complex oxides for catalytic combustion , 2000, Nature.

[15]  Timothy F. L. McKenna,et al.  Viscoelastic model for particle fragmentation in olefin polymerization , 2003 .

[16]  Timothy F. L. McKenna,et al.  The interaction between mass transfer effects and morphology in heterogeneous olefin polymerization , 2001 .

[17]  Hallvard F. Svendsen,et al.  Three-level mass-transfer model for the heterogeneous polymerization of olefins , 2004 .

[18]  Asterios Gavriilidis,et al.  Technology and Applications of Microengineered Reactors , 2002 .

[19]  Kurt Kremer,et al.  Computer simulations for macromolecular science , 2003 .

[20]  Asterios Gavriilidis,et al.  Catalyst Design: Optimal Distribution of Catalyst in Pellets, Reactors, and Membranes , 2005 .

[21]  A. A. Burgess,et al.  Application of life cycle assessment to chemical processes , 2001 .

[22]  Edward L Cussler,et al.  Chemical product design , 2001 .

[23]  Achim Hoffmann,et al.  Catalytic distillation in structured packings: Methyl acetate synthesis , 2001 .

[24]  K. Jensen.  Microreaction engineering * is small better? , 2001 .

[25]  Enrico Drioli,et al.  Progress and New Perspectives on Integrated Membrane Operations for Sustainable Industrial Growth , 2001 .

[26]  K. R. Westerterp,et al.  Integral research aspects of gas phase olefin polymerization : Kinetics, absorption and fluidization , 1998 .

[27]  John A. Howell.  Future research and developments in the membrane field , 2002 .

[28]  Lynn F. Gladden,et al.  Magnetic resonance imaging as a quantitative probe of gas–liquid distribution and wetting efficiency in trickle-bed reactors , 2001 .

[29]  Jean-Claude Charpentier.  Market Demand versus Technological Development: the Future of Chemical Engineering , 2003 .

[30]  J. Villermaux.  LE GENIE DES PROCEDES , 1991 .

[31]  Jean-Claude Charpentier,et al.  Process engineering and problems encountered by chemical and related industries in the near future. Revolution or continuity , 1998 .

[32]  Joris W Thybaut,et al.  Adsorption Competition Effects in Hydroconversion of Alkane Mixtures on Zeolites , 2003 .

[33]  Ka Ming Ng,et al.  Synthesis of reactive crystallization processes , 1997 .

[34]  Panagiotis D. Christofides,et al.  Control of nonlinear distributed process systems : Recent developments and challenges , 2001 .

[35]  Ka Ming Ng,et al.  Synthesis of crystallization–distillation hybrid separation processes , 1997 .

[36]  Paul M. Mathias,et al.  Applied thermodynamics for process modeling , 2002 .

[37]  Nathalie Tanchoux,et al.  Microreactors for Dynamic, High Throughput Screening of Fluid/Liquid Molecular Catalysis , 2000 .

[38]  Arvind Varma,et al.  Combustion Synthesis of Advanced Materials: Principles and Applications , 1998 .

[39]  Karl T. Chuang,et al.  Design of a Process for Production of Isopropyl Alcohol by Hydration of Propylene in a Catalytic Distillation Column , 2002 .

[40]  H. Schubert.  Advances in the mechanical production of food emulsions , 1997 .

[41]  Ignacio E. Grossmann,et al.  Research challenges in process systems engineering , 2000 .

[42]  J. Pablo,et al.  Molecular simulations in chemical engineering: Present and future , 2002 .

[43]  Jinghai Li,et al.  Exploring complex systems in chemical engineering - the multi-scale methodology , 2003 .

[44]  Eric Favre,et al.  Chemical Product Engineering: Research and Educational Challenges , 2002 .

[45]  K. Wintermantel.  PROCESS AND PRODUCT ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENTS, PRESENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES , 1999 .

[46]  Bruno Cousin,et al.  Couplage entre transfert de matière et réactions chimiques dans un sol. Partie 2: Application à la modélisation des transferts de matière dans la rhizosphère , 1997 .

[47]  L. Gladden.  Magnetic resonance: Ongoing and future role in chemical engineering research , 2003 .

[48]  W. H. Weinberg,et al.  Combinatorial materials science: Paradigm shift in materials discovery and optimization , 1999 .

[49]  Timothy F. L. McKenna,et al.  Heat transfer from catalysts with computational fluid dynamics , 1999 .

[50]  Berend Smit,et al.  Understanding Molecular Simulation , 2001 .

[51]  Allan H. Harvey,et al.  Fluid properties and new technologies: Connecting design with reality , 2002 .

[52]  E. H. Stitt,et al.  Reactive distillation for toluene disproportionation: a technical and economic evaluation , 2002 .

[53]  M. van Sint Annaland,et al.  Development and modelling of membrane reactors , 2005 .

[54]  Roshan Jeet Jee Jachuck.  Process Intensification for Responsive Processing , 2002 .

[55]  B Allen,et al.  Design of a prototype miniature bioreactor for high throughput automated bioprocessing , 2003 .

[56]  H. J. Feise.  On the Future of Solids Processing , 2003 .

[57]  Christianto Wibowo,et al.  Product‐centered processing: Manufacture of chemical‐based consumer products , 2002 .

[58]  W. H. Ray.  Modelling of polymerization phenomena , 1986 .

[59]  Costas Tsouris,et al.  Process intensification - Has its time finally come? , 2003 .

[60]  F. Dautzenberg,et al.  Process intensification using multifunctional reactors , 2001 .

[61]  Ka Yip Fung,et al.  Product-centered processing: Pharmaceutical tablets and capsules , 2003 .

[62]  Arvind Varma,et al.  Combustion synthesis of advanced materials , 1992 .

[63]  F. J. Zuiderweg.  Distillation Composition Profiles—What do they Tell us? , 1999 .

[64]  Stu Borman.  COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY: REDEFINING THE SCIENTIFIC METHODRecent concepts and advances in this dynamic field involve combinatorial animals, target-guided ligand assembly, fluorous mixtures, microencapsulation, and nanoelectrospray technology , 2000 .

[65]  Wolfgang Ehrfeld,et al.  Microreactors: New Technology for Modern Chemistry , 2000 .

[66]  J.-M. Engasser,et al.  La création de cellules-usines : Un nouvel enjeu pour le génie biochimique , 1998 .

[67]  Roman Pampuch,et al.  Advanced HT ceramic materials via solid combustion , 1999 .

[68]  Jesse T. Pikturna,et al.  Quadrature method of moments for population‐balance equations , 2003 .

[69]  Gabriel Wild,et al.  Measuring techniques in gas–liquid and gas–liquid–solid reactors , 2002 .

[70]  Lothar Spiegel,et al.  Distillation Columns with Structured Packings in the Next Decade , 2003 .

[71]  Jean-Claude Charpentier,et al.  The triplet "molecular processes-product-process" engineering: the future of chemical engineering ? , 2002 .

[72]  J. Bridgwater.  Putting structure into chemical engineering , 1996 .

[73]  Alan Jones,et al.  On the influence of mixing on crystal precipitation processes—application of the segregated feed model , 2002 .

[74]  Dionisios G. Vlachos,et al.  Low-Dimensional Approximations of Multiscale Epitaxial Growth Models for Microstructure Control of Materials , 2000 .

[75]  Gabriel Wild,et al.  Some Aspects of the Hydrodynamics of Bubble Columns , 2003 .

[76]  D. C. Hendershot,et al.  Process minimization: Making plants safer , 2000 .

[77]  Alfons Mersmann,et al.  The influence of impurities on crystallization kinetics a case study on ammonium sulfate , 2000 .

[78]  Timothy F. L. McKenna,et al.  Single particle modelling for olefin polymerization on supported catalysts: A review and proposals for future developments , 2001 .

[79]  John Villadsen.  Putting structure into Chemical Engineering Proceedings of an industry/university conference , 1997 .

[80]  Jackie Y. Ying,et al.  Nanostructural tailoring: Opportunities for molecular engineering in catalysis , 2000 .