SEPARATION SYSTEM SYNTHESIS - A KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH .2. GAS VAPOR MIXTURES

A description is given for a prototype knowledge-based expert system, the separation synthesis advisor (SSAD), for synthesis of separation sequences for gas/vapor mixtures. The core of the SSAD is the separation synthesis hierarchy (SSH), a highly structured, task-oriented framework for representing separation knowledge. The hierarchy, based on interviews and information from the literature, emulates the approach that an expert process engineer follows. In its current implementation, the SSH is limited to the preliminary sequencing of multicomponent gas/vapor mixtures using the following separation methods: (1) physical absorption; (2) chemical absorption; (3) cryogenic distillation; (4) membrane permeation; (5) molecular sieve adsorption; (6) equilibrium-limited absorption. Several examples of practical industrial separation problems are included.