Multi‐objective optimization superimposed model‐based process design of an enzymatic hydrolysis process

Abstract

The concepts of green process engineering and rigorous model‐based approaches have proven to be highly beneficial in process engineering. Although a combination of these two principles thus appears extremely promising, it is not found very commonly in literature. The very high complexity resulting from this combination poses great challenges for the process design and design engineers. Therefore, this work presents an innovative methodology for the model‐based process design with superimposed multi‐objective optimization for an exemplary process. This process for the enzymatic hydrolysis of fatty acid methyl ester combines several aspects of green process engineering and represents an exemplary process with an enzymatic liquid‐liquid‐solid reaction system. The optimization results based on operating and investment costs reveal important insights on the exemplary process and highlight the great advantages of the developed methodology as a profound basis for academic and industrial process design purposes. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1974–1988, 2017

Multi‐enzyme cascade reaction in a miniplant two‐phase‐system: Model validation and mathematical optimization

“…The immobilized‐lipase‐filled fixed bed reactor for the esterification reaction is modeled as a cascade of σ CSTR reactors 22 according to Equation ). For each CSTR j , a mole flow CSTR, j , i is defined which contains the concentrations of all cinnamyl derivatives for the subsequent CSTR j + 1.…”

“…More specifically, the Institute of Process and Plant Engineering at Hamburg University of Technology has developed the multi‐objective process optimization tool “Advanced Process Optimizer” (Adv:PO V0.7), which can be coupled with flow sheet simulator tools such as Aspen Custom Modeler® 43‐45 . The Adv:PO makes use of a genetic algorithm 17 mimicking the methods of biological evolution, and it has been successfully applied to various chemical and biotechnological processes 22,25,43‐46 . In a first step, a randomly selected set of so‐called “individuals” is created to form the initial population.…”

“…This cyclic formation of new generations is continued until a population meets the abort criteria. A graphical overview of the genetic algorithm (based on Zitzewitz 22 and Ernst 47 ) is provided in the Supporting Information. The implementation of this tool, together with our novel mathematical model, allows for in‐depth analysis and process improvement of the multi‐enzyme cascade reaction sequence to find optimal operating conditions.…”

“…An important requirement to scale new production processes up for industrial application from an economic and/or ecological point of view is the possibility of a mathematical description of said process for continuous process control and development. 8,[22][23][24] However, due to the use of various enzymes and multiple phases, the mathematical description of complex biotechnological processes such as multienzyme cascade reactions constitutes an obstacle to biotechnological process development. 8 Therefore, this study takes on the challenge of introducing a mathematical model to describe a complex biotechnological production process implemented in a miniplant.…”

Multi‐objective Optimization‐Tool for the Universal Application in Chemical Process Design

“…In addition, it becomes more difficult to identify regions of interesting behavior, e.g., salient points or discontinuous regions. The analysis of these regions can lead to an extended and more profound process understanding as demonstrated by Zitzewitz et al .…”