Understanding Batch Chemical Processes ─ Modelling and Case Studies

The book introduces the reader to key aspects in mathematical modeling of batch processes and presents techniques to overcome the computational complexity in order to yield models that are solvable in near real-time. It demonstrates how batch processes can be analyzed, synthesized, and designed optimally using proven mathematical formulations. The book also demonstrates how water and energy aspects can be incorporated within the scheduling framework that seeks to capture the essence of time. It presents real-life case studies where mathematical modeling of batch plants have been successfully applied.

Thokozani Majozi is a full professor in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at Wits University where he also holds the NRF/DST Chair in Sustainable Process Engineering. His main research interest is batch chemical process integration, where he has made significant scientific contributions that have earned him international recognition. Some of these contributions have been adopted by industry. Prior to joining Wits, he spent almost 10 years at the University of Pretoria, initially as an associate professor and later as a full professor of chemical engineering. He was also an associate professor in computer science at the University of Pannonia in Hungary from 2005 to 2009. Majozi completed his PhD in Process Integration at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the United Kingdom. He is a member of Academy of Sciences of South Africa and a Fellow for the Academy of Engineering of SA. He has received numerous awards for his research including the Burianec Memorial Award (Italy), S2A3 British Association Medal (Silver) and the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers Bill Neal-May Gold Medal. He is also twice a recipient of the NSTF Award and twice the recipient of the NRF President’s Award. Majozi is author and co-author of more than 150 scientific publications, including 2 books in Batch Chemical Process Integration published by Springer and CRC Press in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

Esmael Seid Obtained his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Bhair Dar University, Ethiopia. He then worked in process industry for three years after his B.Sc. before joining University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2009, where he obtained his MScEng and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering. Dr Seid has several publications in international refereed journals on design, synthesis, scheduling, and resource conservation, with particular emphasis on water and energy for multipurpose batch plants. He is currently a researcher within the NRF/DST Chair: Sustainable Process Engineering at the school of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand.

Jui-Yuan Lee is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Carbon Cycle Research Centre, National Taiwan University (NTU). He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan in 2006, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from NTU in 2011. Afterwards he spent two and a half more years at NTU doing postdoctoral research (until September 2013), before joining the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he stayed eight months as a postdoctoral fellow (until May 2014). Lee’s research centres on Process Integration for energy savings and waste reduction using mathematical programming. He has published dozens of research papers in international peer-reviewed journals, and is working closely with several collaborators in Asia and Africa.