Optimization in process engineering: state of the art and future trends

Process optimization plays an increasingly important role in design and operation of chemical processes. This paper presents an overview of the recent developments of optimization approaches and their applications in process engineering. The forms of optimization problems are classified and their properties analyzed. In particular, we concentrate our selves on the dynamic optimization, optimization under uncertainties and real-time optimization. Characteristics of such problems are addressed and state of the art solution approaches to these problems are presented. Applications of these approaches to several separation processes are given to demonstrate their effectiveness in practical application. Finally, some challenges and new trends in process optimization are discussed.