Structural state space in fractional crystallisation process synthesis

A method is presented for an algorithmic generation of all possible structures of a system in which a specified set of products is separated from a given set of feed streams by fractional crystallisation. The method employs three sets of transformation operators, which, together with some initial flowsheet, generate the space of system flowsheets in a systematic way. The space can be employed for the optimal crystallisation process design within the framework of optimisation methods of process synthesis.