Integrated design and self-optimizing control of extractive distillation process with preconcentration

Despite increasing incentives, the practice of separating process design and control tasks remains prevalent. Current integrated approaches, when coupled with controller design, necessitate significant budget allocation towards developing suitable dynamic models. To achieve broader industry acceptance, a time-scale separation paradigm is desired, one that separates economic optimization and controller design. In this study, we present a systematic integration of self-optimizing control concepts into the plant design phase and investigate their impact on subsequent operational performance. The key highlights of our work are as follows: (1) Simultaneous inclusion of process structure variables, process parameter variables, control structure variables, and control parameter variables within the integrated formulation. (2) Independent consideration of both economic and control attributes as objectives, resulting in a trade-off between process and control objectives. We illustrate the proposed integrated formulation through a case study on an extractive distillation process with preconcentration.