Process integration and

optimization
Lecture one: Introduction to Optimization

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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OPTIMIZATION

Optimization is a mathematical process of obtaining the minimum (or maximum)

value of a function subject to some given constraints.
Or A mathematical technique to find out the best possible solution
You have a process that can be represented by a mathematical model.
You also have a performance criterion such as minimum cost. The goal of
optimisation is to find the values of the variables in the process that yield the best
value of the performance criterion.
Optimization involves searching for either the minimum or the maximum

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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WHY OPTIMIZE?

Improved yields, reduced pollutants

Reduced energy consumption

Higher processing rates

Reduced maintenance, fewer shutdowns

Better understanding of process (simulation)

But there are always positive and negative factors to be weighed

Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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INGREDIENTS OF AN OPTIMISATION PROBLEM
The following are the requirements for the application of optimization problems:-
 The design or decision variables
the variables within a model that one can control

 The constraints (Performance criterion)

The limit of any variable

 The objective function (cost function)

the mathematical expression that we need to optimize

 Process model
Process Mathematical presentation

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Performance criterion (constraints)

Constraints are limitations on the values of decision variables. These may

be linear or nonlinear, and they may involve more than one decision
variable.
When a constraint is written as an equality involving two or more decision
variables, it is called an equality constraint.

For example, a reaction may require a specific oxygen concentration in the

combined feed to the reactor. The mole balance on the oxygen in the reactor
feed is an equality constraint.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Performance criterion (constraints)

When a constraint is written as an inequality involving one or more

decision variables, it is called an inequality constraint.

For example, the catalyst may operate effectively only below 400°C, or
below 20 MPa.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Performance criterion (constraints)

An equality constraint effectively reduces the dimensionality (the number

of truly independent decision variables) of the optimization problem.

Inequality constraints reduce (and often bound) the search space of the
decision variables.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Process or model (The objective function) (cost function)

An objective function is a mathematical function that, for the best values
of the decision variables, reaches a minimum (or a maximum). Thus, the
objective function is the measure of value or goodness for the optimization
problem.
If it is a profit, one searches for its maximum.
If it is a cost, one searches for its minimum.
There may be more than one objective function for a given optimization
problem.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Some typical performance criteria:

 Maximum profit
 Minimum cost
 Minimum effort
 Minimum error
 Minimum waste
 Maximum throughput
  Best product quality
Note the need to express the performance criterion in mathematical form.
Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Optimisation

Static optimisation: variables have numerical values, fixed with respect

to time.

Dynamic optimisation: variables are functions of time.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Essential Features

Every optimisation problem contains three essential categories:

1.        At least one objective function to be optimised

2.        Equality constraints
3.        Inequality constraints

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont…

By a feasible solution we mean a set of variables which satisfy

categories 2 and 3. The region of feasible solutions is called the
feasible region.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont…

An optimal solution is a set of values of the variables that are

contained in the feasible region and also provide the best value of the
objective function in category 1.

For a meaningful optimisation problem the model needs to be

underdetermined.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Optimization and Chemical Engineering

Optimization is important for process modelling, synthesis, design,

operation and retrofitting of chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical,
energy and related processes.

Chemical engineers need to optimize the design and operating conditions

of industrial process systems to improve their performance, costs,
profitability, safety and reliability.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Optimization and Chemical Engineering

Process system optimization is challenging because chemical engineering

application problems are often complex, nonlinear and large, have both
equality and inequality constraints and/or involve both continuous and
discrete decision variables.
The mathematical relationships among the objective to be optimized and
constraints and decision variables establish the difficulty and complexity of
the optimization problem , as well as the optimization method that should
be used for its solution.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Optimization Applications

Examples of optimization in a chemical plant:

At what temperature to run a reactor?

When to regenerate/change reactor catalyst?
What distillation reflux ratio for desired purity?
What pipe diameter for a piping network?

Optimization can be used to determine the best answer to each of these

questions
Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Benefits of Optimization

Able to systematically determine the best solution

Model created for optimization can be used for other applications
Insights gained during optimization process may identify changes that can
be made to improve performance

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Optimization Requirements

A clear understanding of what is needed to be optimized.

Ex: minimize cost or maximize product quality?
A clear understanding of the constraints on the optimization.
Ex: safety concerns, customer requirements, budget limits, etc.
A way to represent these mathematically (i.e. a model)

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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More Definitions

Minimum: A point where the objective function does not decrease when
the variable(s) are changed some amount.
Maximum: A point where the objective function does not increase when
the variable(s) are changed some amount.

Minimum Strict minimum:

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Minimization Vs Maximization

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Mathematical Description

Minimize : f (x) objective function

 h(x)  0 equality constraints

Subject to: 
g(x)  0 inequality constraints
where x n , is a vector of n variables (x1, x2 ,, xn )
h(x) is a vector of equalities of dimension m1
g(x) is a vector of inequalities of dimension m2
Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Steps Used To Solve Optimisation Problems

1.Analyse the process in order to make a list of all the variables.

2.Determine the optimisation criterion and specify the objective
function.
3.Develop the mathematical model of the process to define the equality
and inequality constraints. Identify the independent and dependent
variables to obtain the number of degrees of freedom.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Steps Used To Solve Optimisation Problems

1.If the problem formulation is too large or complex simplify it if

possible.
2.Apply a suitable optimisation technique.
3.Check the result and examine it’s sensitivity to changes in model
parameters and assumptions.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Modeling Example 1

A chemical plant makes urea and ammonium nitrate. The net profits are
$1000 and $1500/ton produced respectively. Both chemicals are made in
two steps – reaction and drying. The number of hours necessary for each
product is given below:

Step/Chemical Urea Ammonium Nitrate

Reaction 4 2

Drying 2 5

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont…

The reaction step is available for a total of 80 hours per week and the
drying step is available for 60 hours per week.

There are 75 tons of raw material available. Each ton produced of either
product requires 4 tons of raw material.

 What is the production rate of each chemical that will maximize the net
profit of the plant?

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Cont…

Objective Function:
We want to maximize the net profit. Net Profit = Revenue – Cost. Let x 1 = tons
of urea produced per week & x2 = tons of ammonium nitrate produced per week.
Revenue = 1000x1 + 1500x2. There is no data given for costs, so assume Cost =
0.

So the objective function is:

Maximize 1000x1 + 1500x2

Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Cont…

Constraints:
We are given that the reaction step is available for 80 hrs/week. So, the
combined reaction times required for each product cannot exceed this
amount.
The table says the each ton of urea produced requires 4 hours of reaction
and each ton of ammonium nitrate produced requires 2 hours of reaction.
This gives the constraint:

4x1 + 2x2 ≤ 80
Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont…

We are also given that the drying step is available for 60 hrs/wk. The table
says that urea requires 2 hrs/ton produced and ammonium nitrate requires
5 hrs/ton produced. So, we end up with the following constraint:

2x1 + 5x2 ≤ 60

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont…

We are given that the supply of raw material is 75 tons/week and each ton
of urea or ammonium nitrate produced requires 4 tons of raw material.
This gives our final constraint:

4x1 + 4x2 ≤ 75

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT
Cont…

Finally, to ensure a realistic result, it is always prudent to include non-

negativity constraints for the variables where applicable.
Here, we should not have negative production rates, so we include the two
constraints

x1 ≥ 0 & x2 ≥ 0

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont…

So, we have the following problem:

Maximize 1000x1 + 1500x2

Constraint 1
Subject to: 4x1 + 2x2 ≤ 80
Constraint 2
2x1 + 5x2 ≤ 60
Constraint 3
4x1 + 4x2 ≤ 75
x1, x2 ≥ 0
When solved, this has an optimal answer of x1 = 11.25 tons/wk & x2 = 7.5 tons/wk
Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Graph of Example 1

The grey area is called the feasible region and you can see that the optimum
point is at the intersections of constraints 2 & 3.
 Since we are maximizing, we went in the direction of the profit vector

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Modeling Example 2

A company has three plants that produce ethanol and four customers they
must deliver ethanol to. The following table gives the delivery costs per
ton of ethanol from the plants to the customers.
 (A dash in the table indicates that a certain plant cannot deliver to a
certain customer.)

Plant/Customer C1 C2 C3 C4
P1 132 - 97 103
P2 84 91 - -
P3 106 89 100 98

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

The three plants P1, P2, & P3 produce 135, 56, and 93 tons/year,
respectively. The four customers, C1, C2, C3, & C4 require 62, 83, 39,
and 91 tons/year, respectively.

 Determine the transportation scheme that will result in the lowest cost.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

Objective Function:

We want to get the lowest cost, so we want to minimize the cost. The cost
will be the costs given in the table times the amount transferred from each
plant to each customer. Many of the amounts will be zero, but we must
include them all because we don’t know which ones we will use.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

Let xij be the amount (tons/year) of ethanol transferred from plant Pi to

customer Cj. So, x21 is the amount of ethanol sent from plant P2 to
customer C1. We will leave out combinations the table says is impossible
(like x12). So, the objective function is:

 Minimize 132 x11 + 97 x13 + 103 x14 + 84 x21 + 91 x22 + 106 x31 + 89 x32 +
100 x33 + 98 x34.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

Constraints:
The ethanol plants cannot produce more ethanol than their capacity limitations.
The ethanol each plant produces is the sum of the ethanol it sends to the
customers. So, for plant P1, the limit is 135 tons/year and the constraint is:

x11 + x13 + x14 ≤ 135

Since it can send ethanol to customers C1, C2, & C4.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

For plants P2 & P3, the limits are 56 and 93 tons/year, so their constraints
are:
x21 + x22 ≤ 56
x31 + x32 + x33 + x34 ≤ 93

The ≤ sign is used because the plants may produce less than or even up to
their limits, but they cannot produce more than the limit.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

Also, each of the customers have ethanol requirements that must be met.
For example, customer C1 must receive at least 62 tons/year from either
plant P1, P2, P3, or a combination of the three. So, the customer constraint
for C1 is:

x11 + x21 + x31 ≥ 62

Since it can receive ethanol from plants P1, P2, & P3.

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

The requirements for customers C2, C3, & C4 are 83, 39, & 91 tons/year so their
constraints are:

x22 + x32 ≥ 83
x13 + x33 ≥ 39
x14 + x34 ≥ 91

The ≥ sign is used because it’s alright if the customers receive extra ethanol, but
they must receive at least their minimum requirements.
Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

If the customers had to receive exactly their specified amount of ethanol,
we would use equality constraints

However, that is not stated for this problem, so we will leave them as
inequality constraints

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

As in the last example, non-negativity constraints are needed because we

cannot have a negative amount of ethanol transferred.

x11, x13, x14, x21, x22, x31, x32, x33, x34 ≥ 0

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

The problem is:

Minimize 132 x11 + 97 x13 + 103 x14 + 84 x21 + 91 x22 + 106 x31 + 89 x32 +
100 x33 + 98 x34

Subject to: x11+ x13 + x14 ≤ 135

x21 + x22 ≤ 56
x31 + x32 + x33 + x34 ≤ 93

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

x11 + x21 + x31 ≥ 62

x22 + x32 ≥ 83
x13+ x33 ≥ 39
x14 + x34 ≥ 91
And: x11, x13, x14, x21, x22, x31, x32, x33, x34 ≥ 0
The optimum result is:
x11 x13 x14 x21 x22 x31 x32 x33 x34

0 39 87 56 0 6 83 0 4

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Cont..

Unlike the previous example, we cannot find the optimum point

graphically because we have more than 2 variables

This illustrates the power of mathematical optimization

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Classification of optimization techniques

Classification based on presence/absence of constraint

Constraint optimization problems: which are subjected to one or

more constraint.

Unconstraint optimization: in which no constraint exist

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Classification based on the nature of the equation involved:

Linear programing (LP)

Nonlinear programing (NLP)

Quadratic programing (QP)

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Classification based on the nature of decision variables:

Continuous optimization

Integer programing (IP)

Mixed integer linear programing (MILP)

Mixed integer nonlinear programing (MINLP)

Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Classification based on search space:

Local search methods

Global search methods

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Classification based on the number of objective function:

Single objective optimization

Multi-objective optimization

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Another classification

Deterministic optimization

Stochastic optimization

Addis Ababa University

School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
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Question?

End Lecture one

Addis Ababa University
School of Chemical and Bio Engineering Shimelis Kebede (Ph.D.)
AAiT