Distillation is an energy‐consuming process in the chemical industry. Optimizing operating conditions can reduce the amount of energy consumed and improve the efficiency of chemical processes. Herein, we developed a machine learning‐based prediction model for a distillation process and applied the developed model to process optimization. The energy consumed in the distillation process is mainly used to control the temperature of the distillation column. We developed a model that predicted temperature according to the following procedure: (1) data collection; (2) characteristic extraction from the collected data to reduce learning time; (3) min–max normalization to improve prediction performance; and (4) a case study conducted to select the artificial neural network algorithm, optimization method, and batch size, which are the most appropriate elements for predicting production stage temperature. The result of the case study revealed that the most appropriate model was observed with a root mean squared error of 0.0791 and a coefficient of determination of 0.924 when the long short‐term memory algorithm, Adam optimization method, and batch size of 128 were applied. We calculated the amount of steam consumption required to consistently maintain the production stage temperature by utilizing the developed model. The calculation result indicated that the amount of steam consumption was expected to be reduced by approximately 14%, from an average flow rate of 2763–2374 kg/h. This study proposed a control method applying a machine learning‐based prediction model in the distillation process and confirmed that operation energy could be reduced through efficient operation.
Manufacturing polypropylene (PP) composites to meet customers’ needs is difficult, time-consuming, and costly, owing to the ever-increasing diversity and complexity of the corresponding specifications and the trial-and-error method currently used to satisfy the required physical properties. To address this issue, we developed three models for predicting the physical properties of PP composites using three machine learning (ML) methods: multiple linear regression (MLR), deep neural network (DNN), and random forest (RF). Further, the industrial data of 811 recipes were acquired to verify the developed models. Data categorization was performed to account for the differences between data and the fact that different recipes require different materials. The three models were then deployed to predict the flexural strength (FS), melting index (MI), and tensile strength (TS) of the PP composites in nine case studies. The predictive performance results differed according to the physical properties of the composites. The FS and MI prediction models with MLR exhibited the highest R2 values of 0.9291 and 0.9406. The TS model with DNN exhibited the highest R2 value of 0.9587. The proposed models and study findings are useful for predicting the physical properties of PP composites for recipes and the development of new recipes with specific physical properties.
The distillation process is one of the most common and energy‐intensive processes in the chemical industry. Most chemical processes are nonlinear and complex, because of which, it is difficult to find optimal operating conditions. To solve this problem, we developed a framework for energy optimization of the distillation process based on a machine learning (ML) model. The framework enables the efficient operation of the process by using the optimal operating conditions recommended by the ML‐based predictive model. The predictive model, which is a key component, is developed in three steps: learning, validation, and improvement. In the learning step, we select an algorithm suitable for the purpose of the process and learn process data. In the validation step, the model is validated using hold‐out cross‐validation. Finally, in the improvement step, the model performance is improved through hyper‐parameter optimization. We applied the framework to a commercial mixed butane distillation columns of 45,000 metric tons per annum capacity. The predictive model was based on commercial process data, and it can be used to predict the temperature at the product stage. The model recommended the steam flow rate required to maintain the target temperature of the product stage as per the operating conditions. The recommended steam flow rate will be guideline for the on‐site operator. The software is developed that the predictive model can be easily applied to the commercial processes, and it identifies the state of the process and recommends optimal operating conditions.
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