Decision support by multicriteria optimization in process development: An integrated approach for robust planning and design of plant experiments

In simulation-based process design, model parameters, like thermodynamic data, are affected by uncertainties. Optimized process designs should, among different other objectives, also be robust to uncertainties of the model parameters. In industrial practise, it is important to know the trade-off between an increase in robustness and the other objectives - like minimizing costs or maximizing product purities. This contribution describes a practical procedure how to incorporate robustness as an objective into a multicriteria optimization framework. The general procedure is illustrated by a concrete example. Finally, we argue that the same approach is useable for an optimal design of plant experiments.