| Abstract: | Abstract A systematic design approach was applied to develop the optimal process flowsheet for a rice processing plant. The optimization problem was formulated as a Mixed-Integer NonLinear Programme, MINLP, consisting of vectors of binary and continuous variables. A superstructure flowsheet comprising all serial structures of drying, cooling, and tempering units in the process was postulated. The set of optimum decision variables including the number of drying, cooling, and tempering units, temperature and relative humidity of drying air, drying time, cooling time, and tempering time were determine as the solution of the corresponding MINLP. Six objective functions were investigated as possible performance criteria: production time, number of the operating units, energy consumption, total operating cost, head rice yield, and the profit. The choice of objective function was found to have a significant effect on the optimal solution. Comparison with typical design and operating conditions, the MINLP results showed that a 22% reduction in energy consumption was possible along with a 2.4% increase in head rice yield. These savings, if applied to the world-wide rice industry, translate into more than $3 billion dollars/year increase in profit. |
