Recipe‐free synthesis of optimal operation trajectories for batch processes based on process models

Batch processes are usually operated following recipes, which are based on experience and expert knowledge. This ensures feasible and safe operation, because process constraints are indirectly included in the recipe. However, the recipe structure itself constrains the solution space and might exclude other more efficient trajectories. Therefore, the hidden constraints are explicitly formulated, and the arising optimization problem is solved without using prior knowledge in the form of recipes. Case studies are performed on rigorous models of a batch reactor and a batch distillation column. It is demonstrated that the optimization problem formulated as a smoothed dynamic nonlinear programming problem outperforms a mixed-integer formulation. Finally, a multi-objective case is investigated that strongly outperforms a recipe-based benchmark.