Global Optimization for the Synthesis of Integrated Water Systems with Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

The problem of optimal synthesis of an integrated water system is addressed in this study, where water using processes and water treatment operations are combined into a single network such that the total cost of fresh water and wastewater treatment is globally minimized. A superstructure that incorporates all feasible design alterna- tives for wastewater treatment, reuse and recycle, is synthesized with a non-linear programming model. An evolutionary approach--an improved particle swarm optimization is proposed for optimizing such systems. Two simple examples are .Presented.to illustrate the global op.timization of inte.grated water networks using the proposed algorithm.

Minimization of the Flowrate of Fresh Water and Corresponding Regenerated Water in Water-using System with Regeneration Reuse

A sequential three-step programming method is proposed for determining the minimum flowrate of fresh water and corresponding regenerated water in water-using system of single contaminant with regeneration reuse. In step 1, a programming with the objective of min fws is used to determine the minimum flowrate of fresh water, in which the mathematical representation is a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP1). Then under the same constraints with step 1, a programming with the objective of min freg in step 2 and a programming with the objective of min Cr in step 3 are subsequently used to determine the minimum flowrate of regenerated water and the minimum inlet concentration to regeneration process corresponding to the minimum flowrate of fresh water based on step 1. The method is easy to apply because we only need to change the objective function but keep the constraints constant to go along the following steps after step 1. In addition, the relationship between the fresh water flowrate required, fws and inlet concentration to regeneration process, Cr, is investigated. It is found that there exist three relationships between fws and Cr, which indicate three possibilities for C\>: below the pinch, above the pinch or at the pinch. Therefore, a new conclusion is drawn, which differs from that 'regeneration of water at pinch minimizes fresh water flowrate' derived in literature and indicates that in some cases, regeneration at other point also minimizes fresh water flowrate.

Algorithmic Procedure to Design Water Utilization Systems Featuring Multiple Contaminants in Process Plants

This paper introduces a non-iterative algorithmic procedure to design water utilization networks with multiple contaminants in process plants. According to the water pinch analysis rules, the processes in water utilization systems were first divided into three groups, then water-supply priority algorithm was proposed. The results of case studies showed that the water networks designed by this method gave water consumption lower than that estimated by other approaches. In addition, the procedure was subject to no limitation on the problem scale.