Integrating batch operations involving liquid-solid mixtures into continuous process flows

Abstract

This work focuses on modeling batch processes with phase retention, where a portion of the solid or liquid phase is retained after each cycle. While existing simulators primarily model simple batch cycles, this research aims to incorporate batch processes with re-use into flowsheet simulations. Batch processes with phase retention, such as those found in wastewater treatment, biomass hydrolysis and extraction, offer significant advantages, including resource savings and improved process flexibility. These processes introduce a new degree of freedom: the retained phase fraction. The re-use introduces dynamic behavior, as reaction products accumulate in the retained phase over multiple cycles. This necessitates an extended time horizon for mass balance calculations to capture the periodic steady-state. Here a general algorithm is proposed to simulate the periodic behavior of batch processes with re-use for any given kinetics which will enable the integration of these processes into flowsheet simulations.