From Single Process Simulation and Optimization to Decision Making Based on a Multitude of Solutions

Quite often process simulation is only used as a representation of experimentally developed processes. With today's availability of computation power and advanced simulation and optimization methods much more than providing a closed heat and mass balance and some data for process unit design is possible. There is a need for a shift in paradigm to a model-centric process development. Supporting decision making to find out which design variables or model parameters are significant, which experiments should be done, how optimality could be reached, should be addressed in an iterative workflow and a supporting framework. This is discussed in the present contribution.