Optimization of Industrial Processes and Process Equipment
Sandip Kumar Lahiri · 2020
Optimization is an important tool that can be utilized to strike a proper balance so that profit can be maximized in the long run. Optimization in chemical process industries can be divided into two major classes, namely steady state optimization and dynamic optimization. Non-traditional optimization techniques generate a lot of optimal solutions that can be equally good. This chapter discusses some of the most widely used non-traditional optimization techniques such as simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, and differential evolution. Genetic algorithms combine the “survival of the fittest” principle of natural evolution with the genetic propagation of characteristics to arrive at a robust search and optimization technique. Robustness, efficiency, simplicity, and its ability to find the global optimum of a function with ease and accuracy have made the differential evolution popular in recent times. The simulated annealing technique resembles the cooling process of molten metals through annealing.