How modern digital design approaches can help realize the potential of Process Intensification

Despite the numerous potential benefits, the process industry has been slow in the adoption of Process Intensification since its inception. A key challenge is that intensified processes are by definition novel and unproven, as opposed to less-efficient processes that have been well-understood for many years and therefore carry less risk. A traditional approach to process developments dictates that new processes require extensive construction of prototypes and pilots. However, even exhaustive pilot testing still leaves open questions of operability and reliability, and a lack of systematic quantification of the effects of poor performance or failure, as well as the usual general technology risks associated with implementing new processes. There is also a perceived lack of design tools and data to develop intensified processes, and lack of generalized workflows for dealing with the complexity of intensified, integrated modular systems.

All of this means that significant advantages can be realized from applying emerging digital design approaches that allow rapid and systematic exploration of the process decision space and rigorous quantification and management of technology risk. Digital design employs a model-based approach coupled closely with targeted experimentation. Experimentation is used to support the construction of a high-fidelity predictive model (‘digital twin’); once a model of sufficient accuracy is established, the digital twin, rather than the experimental data, is used to optimize the process design and operation.

This presentation describes, with brief illustrations, the established digital design techniques, technologies, and workflows that can be applied across the intensified process development lifecycle to accelerate development and manage risk systematically.