Process network synthesis: Problem definition

Analyses of network problems have yielded mathematically and practically significant results. Naturally, it should be of substantial interest to extend such results to a general class of network problems where the structure of any system can be represented by a directed bipartite graph containing two types of vertices; the model for one of them is nonlinear. This class of problems is frequently encountered in the design of process systems for carrying out transformation of chemical or material species through physical, chemical, or biological means. General-purpose mathematical programming methods have failed so far to solve large-scale network problems involved in the design of such systems. This paper is intended to define this class of network problems, i.e., the problems of process network synthesis, and to elucidate the unique features of these problems.