Title: Optimisation and controllability assessment of a chemical manufacturing plant using design reliability theory

Authors: Rodolfo Tellez, William Y. Svrcek, Brent R. Young

Addresses: Aspen Technology, Inc., Calgary, Alberta T2G 0P6, Canada. ' Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada. ' Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract: For a given chemical manufacturing plant it is often necessary to determine its ability to meet design requirements at different operating conditions and to reject disturbances, which is known as controllability. Design reliability theory can be used to determine the possibility of violating the design and operational constraints. If the design under consideration results in a significant value of the failure possibility, then such design will require either modification or the establishment of a specific requirement in the control system. This paper presents case studies that show the implementation of this approach.

Keywords: design reliability; unreliability; chemical manufacturing plant; optimisation; controllability; constraint violation; membership functions; process plant design; operating uncertainty; fuzzy design; fuzzy logic; fuzzy set theory.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2006.008788

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2006 Vol.8 No.1/2/3, pp.2 - 18

Published online: 25 Jan 2006 *

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