Energy and Process Network Flux Analysis: Optimization-Based Assessment of Sustainable Chemical Production Pathways

Optimization-based pathway screening is a valuable tool for assessing competing production pathways and identifying promising process concepts in a large design space. Since the energy supply for chemical production processes is crucial for the sustainability and economic viability of production, we present an extension of our “Process Network Flux Analysis” method toward production pathway screening with simultaneous chemical process and energy system design to exploit potential synergies at an early stage of design. We apply the method to a case study on producing renewable chemicals and fuels using utility system superstructures for conventional and renewable energy supply. The results show that integrating energy system design aspects into the pathway screening not only significantly impacts the performance criteria for economic and sustainable production but also influences production pathway selection. In addition, we identify energy-related synergies between production routes in the coproduction of chemical species that would go unrecognized without explicit consideration of the energy system.