Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the issue exchanger networks or separation sequences. It is the issue of incorporating operability measures into the synthesis stage of complete chemical process plant design. Process synthesis is today largely based on steady-state analysis. Synthesis procedures that take into account dynamics, for example, in the form of controllability considerations have been developed but only for the more well-defined tasks such as the synthesis of heat exchanger networks or separation sequences. The steady-state versions of the dynamic equipment models are used to calculate the most economically profitable operating point for the process. During this optimisation, the flow-sheet structure and equipment parameters are held constant. The flexibility analysis classifies the slow disturbances as either economically significant or insignificant by considering the unregulated effect of such disturbances on the nominal economic optimum operating profit of the process.
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