EVOLUTIONARY SEARCH FOR AN OPTIMAL LIMITING PROCESS FLOWSHEET.

The depth-first heuristic search for a process flowsheet proposed earlier by the authors is extended to generate good (optimal) limiting process flowsheets. A look-back strategy follows the initial look-ahead procedure to eliminate the fragmentation of process tasks. Then an evolutionary search improves the process structure by eliminating the earlier dependence on the order of consideration of individual product goals followed by the …