Review of Optimization Techniques for Retrofitting Batch Plants

• Published in: Chemical Process Retrofitting and Revamping pp. 223 - 247
• Main Author: Azzaro‐Pantel, Catherine
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 19.02.2016
• Subjects: Batch plants; Campaign; Design; Flowshop; Jobshop; Optimization; Scheduling
• ISBN: 9781119016335; 1119016339
• DOI: 10.1002/9781119016311.ch8

Retrofitting is particularly important for batch processes, which have to face fluctuations in production demand, new product manufacturing and shortened time‐to‐market periods. Despite its significance and importance, review of the dedicated literature shows that retrofitting has received much less attention than have design problems, which can be considered as a paradoxical situation since process retrofit occurs more frequently than does process design in industrial practice. The motivation for the retrofit problem has been first provided by the industrial environment. Yet, the development of retrofit design strategies is challenging for academic research, with specific features compared with the design problem. The chapter deals with a number of retrofit issues dedicated to batch plants. It is focused on the methods and tools used to solve the batch plant retrofit problem that have been developed by the process systems engineering community in the last few decades. Similarities and differences with the design problem are emphasized. Conclusions and directions for future research are proposed, highlighting the need for more robust retrofit strategies embedding a multi‐criteria decision approach.