Acyclic modular flowsheet optimization using multiple trust regions and Gaussian process regression

This paper presents an algorithm to optimize process flowsheets using Gaussian processes regression and trust regions. We exploit the modular structure of the flowsheet by training separate Gaussian processes (GPs) for each module based on data generated by a process simulator. These GPs are embedded into an optimization model, whose outcome is used to adapt the position and size of the trust region at each iteration. A complication that arises …