Ecological Advanced Innovation Design Approach for Efficient Integrated Upstream and Downstream Processes

Abstract

Process engineering industries are now facing growing economic pressure and societies' demands to improve their production technologies and equipment, making them more efficient and environmentally friendly. However unexpected additional technical and ecological drawbacks may appear as negative side effects of the new environmentally-friendly technologies. Thus, in their efforts to intensify upstream and downstream processes, industrial companies require a systematic aid to avoid compromising of ecological impact. The paper conceptualises a comprehensive approach for eco-innovation and eco- design in process engineering. The approach combines the advantages of Process Intensification as Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE), inventive tools of Knowledge-Based Innovation (KBI), and main principles and best-practices of Eco-Design and Sustainable Manufacturing. It includes a correlation matrix for identification of eco-engineering contradictions and a process mapping technique for problem definition, database of Process Intensification methods and equipment, as well as a set of strongest inventive operators for eco-ideation.

Sustainable Innovation in Process Engineering Using Quality Function Deployment Approach and Importance-Satisfaction Analysis of Requirements

“…Nevertheless, the process innovation activities in industrial companies are still usually driven primarily by costs and quality concerns. As a result, both ecological and technical problems subsequently lead to increase of capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenditures (OPEX) [6]. Therefore, the comprehensive sustainable innovation in process engineering should lay much greater emphasis on higher productivity and quality, as well as on lowering environmental footprint and increasing resource and energy efficiency, as illustrated in Fig.…”