Process flow sheet synthesis: Systems‐level design applied to synthetic crude production

A novel approach for conceptual design for process flow sheets at the “systems‐level” is showcased in this article. A graphical technique, called the “GH‐space,” is used to analyze the flows of material, heat and work within a process to provide insight into the interactions of various units within the process. Any unit process, which interacts with the surroundings by transferring heat and work, can be represented as a vector on the GH‐space. While material and energy balances are normally performed on a flowsheet, this vectored approach allows the material and energy balances to be used to construct a flowsheet. This article focuses on using the GH‐space to synthesis a synthetic fuels flowsheet. It was shown that a process could be designed that not only produced the desired product but could also consume carbon dioxide as a feed, along with the feeds of methane and oxygen, and could even potentially generate electricity. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 5413–5424, 2017