INDUCING OPTIMALLY DIRECTED INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM CHEMICAL-ENGINEERING 1ST PRINCIPLES

A computational methodology is presented for the innovation of chemical engineering designs from first principle equations developed from the fundamental physics, chemistry, manufacturing and safety constraints of a system. The 1stPRINCE methodology, originally developed for mechanical design, generates optimally directed novel designs from previously known configurations. Design space expansion is performed by dimensional variable expansion which expands a design into multiple regions with independent properties. Symbolic optimization directs the search within the design space via monotonicity analysis. Trends over generations of designs are observed and the limiting designs are determined. In some design problems the 1stPRINCE methodology eliminates the need for a prepostulated superstructure for finding the optimal solution. The domain independence of 1stPRINCE is demonstrated in an application to the innovative design of a mixed flow reactor for maximum conversion.