ABSTRACT
Functional Approach to Process Synthesis and its
Application to Distillation Systems”, Computers Chem.
Eng., 22(1-2), 31-45, 1998. In it he shows that
Douglas’s hierarchical approach to process design,
with successive refinement of models as required to
resolve choices, can be embedded in a rigorous im-
plicit enumeration procedure for finding the optimal
design, within the accuracy implied by the final
model. This is an advantage because the final design
is verified by use of models as detailed and accurate
as desired, while limiting computational effort by
use of simpler models during development of the
design. He also uses the representation of a process
as a state-task network which contains a connected
path from each feedstock to some product and con-
versely from each product to at least one feed; more-
over each intermediate state and task must be on at
least one such path. We can then devise an algo-
rithm which generates all feasible state-task-net-
works. These can then be evaluated with an implicit
enumeration procedure, at the same time refining
models as required to resolve the choices.
