Prosyn—an MINLP process synthesizer

This paper reports the development of the program PROSYN, an automated implementation of the modelling/decomposition (M/D) strategy by Kocis and Grossmann (Computers chem. Engng 13, 797–819, 1989) for the MINLP optimization of process flowsheets. A systematic procedure is first presented for the decomposition of general superstructures of process flowsheets that avoids the optimization of units with zero flow. A model for simultaneous optimization and heat integration is also proposed that can account for area and energy considerations. Finally, a computer implementation is described that is suitable for the complex logic involved in the M/D strategy for the synthesis and heat integration of process flowsheets. Examples are presented to illustrate each of these points, as well as the performance of PROSYN.