Process design under uncertainty: Robustness criteria and value of information

Abstract

In the last three decades, process design under uncertainty has evolved as an optimization-based tool to systematically handle uncertainty at an early design stage thus avoiding overdesign, underdesign or other suboptimal decisions. In this chapter, we address this issue presenting a generic framework to guide the decision-maker on the design problem definition that systematises several considerations and assumptions, namely regarding constraints violation, uncertainty classification and modelling, operating policy and decision-making criteria under uncertainty. This generic framework is then explored for handling process robustness and value of information features. A case study of a reactor and heat exchanger system illustrates the several presented formulations, namely optimal process design accounting for product quality and optimal R&D decisions in order to selectively reduce uncertainties.