SEPARATION SYSTEM SYNTHESIS - A KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH .1. LIQUID-MIXTURE SEPARATIONS

A description is given for a task-oriented, or problem decomposition, approach to the selection and sequencing of methods for separating multicomponent liquid mixtures. The design knowledge of the expert is organized into a structured query system, the separation synthesis hierarchy (SSH). This hierarchy divides the overall separation synthesis problem into subproblems or “tasks”. These tasks can be solved essentially independently from each other. Each task consists of a series of ordered heuristics based on pure component properties and on process characteristics. In its current implementation, SSH is limited to the sequencing of multicomponent mixture separations using eight industrially significant separation methods: simple distillation, azeotropic/extractive distillation, liquid-liquid extraction, stripping, adsorption, membrane permeation, and crystallization. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.