An integrated knowledge-based framework for synthesis and design of enterprise-wide processing networks

Today chemical processing industries manufacture a wide range of products and provide services that touch billions of people’s lives across the globe in many different ways. Making this requires an effective management of innovation in product and process development. On the other hand, the synthesis and design of processing networks is a complex and multidisciplinary problem, which involves many strategic and tactical decisions at business (considering financial criteria, market competition, supply chain network, etc) and engineering levels (considering synthesis, design and optimization of production technology, its feasibility, sustainability, R&D needs, etc), all of which have a deep impact on the profitability of knowledge based industries. In this talk, an integrated business and engineering framework for synthesis and design of processing network within enterprise wide context is presented. A systematic approach is used to manage the complexity and solving simultaneously both the business and the engineering dimension of the problem. This allows generation and comparison of a large number of alternatives at their optimal point. The result is the identification of the optimal raw material, product portfolio and process technology selection for a given market scenario, their sustainability metrics and risk of investment under market uncertainties enabling risk-aware decision making. The framework is highlighted with successful applications for soybean oil processing (food technology), biorefinery network (renewable chemicals) and wastewater treatment network (petrochemical industry). Scope and objective Today chemical processing industries manufacture a wide range of products and provide services that are essential for maintaining wellbeing and sustaining modern lifestyle of mankind. These products and services touch billions of people living across the globe in many different ways: from products used in home care, personal care, to products that provides energy essential for transportation to fertilizers, herbicide for agriculture to textile for fashion and much more. A conservative estimate put the number of products that processing industries are manufacturing ca 30,000 and increasing (Conte & Gani, 2010). These trends is set to continue in future where we are likely to see more and more diversity and functionality of products and services. Clearly the chemical processing industries has been tremendously successful and innovative in the past. Equally important for processing industries, is the development of process technologies required to manufacture the products starting from raw materials and other resources such as utilities. Hence the challenge is not only identifying the needs for products but also developing appropriate and cost-effective processing technologies. The current paradigm for product and process development in fact involves a number of steps which are outlined in Table 1. Briefly these steps can also be summarized as follows: (i) customer needs, (ii) Idea generation, (iii) process selection, (iv) manufacturing. Bottom line of process and product development efforts is that it is resource-intensive enterprise, which needs to be managed optimally. Table 1. Product and process development paradigm in processing industries • Need Identification • Product Design and Selection • Conceptual Process Synthesis and Design • Raw Materials Selection • Supply Chain Definition Piloting Detailed Engineering Engineering, Procurement & Construction Production Plan & Schedule Operations, Marketing, sales & distribution Implementation of product and process development paradigm in processing industries is in general organized in a functional structure, with separate departments working in a coordinated and integrated manner on enterprise-wide projects. The harmonic synchronization and integration between different functions is for large companies a necessary condition for obtaining the complete business potential of its activity (Williams and Samset, 2010). An important example of enterprise-wide problems is the synthesis and design of processing networks. This involves a combination of strategic decisions (such as the selection of the product portfolio, of the raw materials and of the process technology) and of tactical decisions (the determination of the optimal processing conditions, of the optimal material flow through the processing network etc). In industrial practice, this problem is often described as “do the right project, do the project right” and is tackled by the coordinated work of business and process engineering departments. Business department deals with the layer of strategic decisions and screening of alternatives to select the right project to execute on the basis of strategic considerations, employing financial and economical tools or indicators such as Balanced Scorecard and project NPV. On the other hand, process engineering deals with the layer of tactical decisions, related to design and optimization of the selected alternative with the help of tools such as process simulators.