ChE Sustainability Engineering Design Approach: Bread and Butter

Until relatively recent times, the overall approach to process engineering design considered what is needed, what can be spent, how much can be made, and how fast can an investment be recovered and profits begin to flow. In a world of overabundance, unlimited space, and raw materials, this was sufficient. Modern SE design however, must also consider safer alternatives to the desired product, permanent availability of raw materials, with strict, primary emphasis on renewable resources, and Environment, Safety and Occupational Health (ESOH) compliance and protection for the public as well as industrial workforce. The basic cost estimating, technical requirements determination, and methodology of design have not changed. But CAD-aided design methods, e.g., Aspen plus, Hysys (Luyben WL, Distillation and control using aspen simulation. Wiley-AIChE, New York, 2006) and others, e.g., UNISYSM, can greatly simplify, through automation, the level of effort and often provide a greater degree of accuracy in design. Some can even provide real-time dynamic plant modeling. We look here at these classic design steps as married to SE design to improve all aspects including safety and profitability, a new look at efficiency, integrating disparate processes and energy to maximize resource utilization. This chapter also discusses training upcoming design engineers to respond to new market forces that allow sustainability considerations to now be accounted for as a profit center.