Deterministic Flexibility Analysis ─ Theory, Design, and Applications

This book introduces theory and application of flexibility analysis, which is concerned with assigning an operability measure to any given process under the influence of uncertainties. It is vital to measure this as early as possible in the lifecycle of a chemical plant.We focus on specific computation methods for evaluating 4 metrics, the steady-state, volumetric, dynamic and temporal flexibility indices, to address design issues in various chemical processes. To show the utility of flexibility analyses, we give practical applications. Definitions of performance indices, mathematical formulations and corresponding algorithms and codes are given to ensure concrete quantitative assessments.

Chuei-Tin Chang received his BS degree in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University in 1976 and 1982, respectively. He worked as a process engineer for FMC Corporation (Princeton, New Jersey) from 1982 to 1985 and as an assistant professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) from 1985 to 1989. He later joined the faculty of Chemical Engineering Department of the National Cheng Kung University (Tainan, Taiwan) in 1989, became a full professor in 1993, and recently received the Distinguished Professor Award (2008– 2011). He was a visiting research scholar at Northwestern University (1992), Leihigh University (1998), and Georgia Institute of Technology (2006). He is a senior member of AIChE and TwIChE. His current research interests are mainly concerned with process systems engineering (PSE), which include process integration, process safety assessment and fault diagnosis, etc. He is the author of 104 refereed papers and 90 conference papers (total number of citations: 1306; h-index: 16).

Vincentius Surya Kurnia Adi is an assistant professor in the Chemical Engineering Department, National Chung Hsing University. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, in 2005. He worked as a process engineer for PT. Arianto Darmawan until 2006, and later in 2008 received his MS in Chemical Engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. He finished his PhD in Chemical Engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, in 2013. Later on, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the same institution until 2015. Afterwards, he moved to Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London as research associate before he joined as one of the faculty members in the Chemical Engineering Department, National Chung Hsing University in 2016. His research centers on developing new insights in process synthesis and design, especially in flexibility analysis of chemical processes.