Control and Optimization of Chemical and Biochemical Processes

A special issue of ChemEngineering (ISSN 2305-7084).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2018) | Viewed by 11699

Special Issue Editors

Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics and Systems (D.I.M.E.S.), Laboratory of Transport Phenomena and Biotechnology, University of Calabria, Cubo-39c, Via P. Bucci, 87036 Rende, Italy
Interests: Modeling, Simulation. ANN, Hybrid Model, Food Engineering, Membrane, Photocatalysis.
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The special issue will cover different topics including modeling, simulation, design, control and optimization of both chemical and biochemical processes. A more efficient analysis of several problems, ranging from the design of novel materials to the optimization of industrial plants, will be provided. One of the major advantages of the described techniques will be represented by the possibility of obtaining accurate predictions of the analyzed processes over a wide range operating conditions. Computer simulations, or computer experiments, are indeed less impaired by non-linearity, having many degrees of freedom or lacking in symmetries than analytical approaches. As a result, computer simulations establish their greatest value for those systems where the gap between theoretical predictions and laboratory measurements is large. Instead of constructing layers of different approximations of a basic law (formulated as equations), a numerical approach simulates directly the original problem with its full complexity without making many assumptions.

The modeling, simulation, control and optimization techniques described in this special issue can be, therefore, used as an exploratory tool in “computer experiments” under conditions, which would not be feasible or too expensive in real experiments in the laboratory.

One of the major impacts of the present proposal is to show the true interactions and interconnectivities among different topics belonging to nanotechnology, chemistry, energy and (bio-) chemical engineering research fields.

Main goals:

- A wide spectrum of different problems and of innovative and unconventional modeling, simulation, control and optimization techniques will be covered.

- It will be shown how various kinds of advanced models can be exploited either to predict the behavior of real processes, thus optimizing their performance or to achieve the formulation of novel products/materials.

- The control/optimization of novel processes/materials will be achieved in a faster and more reliable way.

Prof. Dr. Stefano Curcio
Dr. Sudip Chakraborty
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. ChemEngineering is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Hybrid modeling
  • Multi-scale simulation
  • Efficient models
  • Simulation, modeling, optimization and control
  • Membrane reactors in chemical & bioprocess engineering

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1722 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Off-Spec Canola Biodiesel Blending on Fuel Properties for Cold Weather Applications
by Ubaid Hassan, Isam Al-Zubaidi and Hussameldin Ibrahim
ChemEngineering 2018, 2(3), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering2030030 - 02 Jul 2018
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3226
Abstract
Biodiesel is a renewable and reduced-emission alternative fuel produced mainly from the alcoholysis of vegetable oils and/or animal fats. It is mainly used in blends with diesel fuel to reduce emissions, enhance lubrication and lower sulfur content. Being able to accurately determine the [...] Read more.
Biodiesel is a renewable and reduced-emission alternative fuel produced mainly from the alcoholysis of vegetable oils and/or animal fats. It is mainly used in blends with diesel fuel to reduce emissions, enhance lubrication and lower sulfur content. Being able to accurately determine the physicochemical properties of blended fuel is important for optimal injection, combustion, and lubricating performance in diesel engines. Also, fuel properties vary as the ratio of biodiesel-diesel changes, affecting the final fuel quality. In this study, a wide range and narrow intervals of (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 35, 50, 75 and 100% by volume) off-quality canola-based biodiesel blends were prepared at ambient conditions and used to study the blended fuel properties (density, kinematic viscosity, flash point, cloud point and pour point). This is particularly important for examining the effect of a biodiesel content of more than 20%—the industry maximum blend content—on cold flow properties, fuel stability, energy value, and emissions. It was found that the kinematic viscosity and density increased linearly as the concentration of the biodiesel in the blend increases. The pour point and cloud point temperature showed a small increase up to 35% blending ratio and a rapid increase in temperature for biodiesel concentrations higher than 35%. Also, the flash point remained almost constant at an average value of 73 °C for blends less than 20%, above which the values for the flash point increased exponentially with biodiesel concentration. Furthermore, predictive correlations were developed for all tested fuel properties from regressing corresponding experimental data. All models exhibited excellent agreement with experimental data with an average absolute deviation of less than 5%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Optimization of Chemical and Biochemical Processes)
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13 pages, 3131 KiB  
Article
Development and Analyses of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Based Models for the Flow Boiling Heat Transfer Coefficient of R600a in a Mini-Channel
by Nusrat Parveen, Sadaf Zaidi and Mohammad Danish
ChemEngineering 2018, 2(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering2020027 - 13 Jun 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3550
Abstract
Environmental friendly refrigerants with zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and zero global warming potential (GWP) are in great demand across the globe. One such popular refrigerant is isobutane (R600a) which, having zero ODP and negligible GWP, is considered in this study. This paper [...] Read more.
Environmental friendly refrigerants with zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and zero global warming potential (GWP) are in great demand across the globe. One such popular refrigerant is isobutane (R600a) which, having zero ODP and negligible GWP, is considered in this study. This paper presents the two most popular artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, namely support vector regression (SVR) and artificial neural networks (ANN), to predict the heat transfer coefficient of refrigerant R600a. The independent input parameters of the models include mass flux, saturation temperature, heat flux, and vapor fraction. The heat transfer coefficient of R600a is the dependent output parameter. The prediction performance of these AI-based models is compared and validated against the experimental results, as well as with the existing correlations based on the statistical parameters. The SVR model based on the structural risk minimization (SRM) principle is observed to be superior compared with the other models and is more accurate, precise, and highly generalized; it has the lowest average absolute relative error (AARE) at 1.15% and the highest coefficient of determination (R2) at 0.9981. ANN gives an AARE of 5.14% and a R2 value of 0.9685. Furthermore, the simulated results accurately predict the effect of input parameters on the heat transfer coefficient. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Optimization of Chemical and Biochemical Processes)
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Review

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17 pages, 14077 KiB  
Review
Progress in Modeling of Silica-Based Membranes and Membrane Reactors for Hydrogen Production and Purification
by Kamran Ghasemzadeh, Angelo Basile and Adolfo Iulianelli
ChemEngineering 2019, 3(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering3010002 - 01 Jan 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4167
Abstract
Hydrogen is seen as the new energy carrier for sustainable energy systems of the future. Meanwhile, proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks are considered the most promising alternative to the internal combustion engines for a number of transportation applications. Nevertheless, PEMFCs need [...] Read more.
Hydrogen is seen as the new energy carrier for sustainable energy systems of the future. Meanwhile, proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks are considered the most promising alternative to the internal combustion engines for a number of transportation applications. Nevertheless, PEMFCs need high-grade hydrogen, which is difficultly stored and transported. To solve these issues, generating hydrogen using membrane reactor (MR) systems has gained great attention. In recent years, the role of silica membranes and MRs for hydrogen production and separation attracted particular interest, and a consistent literature is addressed in this field. Although most of the scientific publications focus on silica MRs from an experimental point of view, this review describes the progress done in the last two decades in terms of the theoretical approach to simulate silica MR performances in the field of hydrogen generation. Furthermore, future trends and current challenges about silica membrane and MR applications are also discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Optimization of Chemical and Biochemical Processes)
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