Design of batch operations: Systematic methodology for generation and analysis of sustainable alternatives

The objective of this paper is to present a new methodology that is able to generate, screen and identify sustainable alternatives to continuous chemical processes as well as processes operating in the batch mode. The methodology generates the sustainable (design) alternatives by locating the operational, environmental, economical and safety related problems inherent in the process (batch or continuous). Alternatives that are more sustainable, compared to a reference, are generated and evaluated by addressing one or more of the identified problems. A decomposition technique as well as a set of batch indicators for batch operations has been developed and added to the methodology so that a wide range of processes that operate in continuous mode, in semi-continuous and/or in batch modes can be improved. The principal calculation steps of the methodology for applications to continuous and batch processes are described, highlighting the main differences between them. Through two case studies, the application of the methodology, to obtain sustainable design alternatives for batch plants, is highlighted.