Process design, optimization and intensification
An increasing global population together with the earth’s finite natural resources points to an urgent need for new, better and more versatile products together with their more sustainable manufacturing processes. That is, innovative engineering is needed to address the grand challenges of energy, water, food and environment. Here, chemical and biochemical engineering has a major role to play, for example, through obtaining better commercial products, developing more sustainable industrial production systems, and reducing environmental impact through better use of energy sources. Papers reporting new concepts, methods, technologies, and/or applications that promise innovative new solutions and/or significant improvements of existing processes through design, optimization and intensification of chemical and related processes are welcome. This includes
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fundamental work on process and product systems engineering
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multiphase processing
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materials processing
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particle technology
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product design
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process monitoring and optimization
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reactor miniaturization
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multifunctionality and intensification of process operation
covering the chemical, petrochemical, agricultural, food, pharmaceutical, materials and energy industries.
Reaction engineering and catalysis
BMC Chemical Engineering welcomes papers in the field of reaction engineering and catalysis. As chemical engineering has expanded beyond traditional petrochemical industry toward pharmaceutical production, biomedical devices and sustainable energy generation, new types of chemical reactors are required. Most chemical reactors use catalysts to accelerate the reaction rate, and fundamental studies and applications for homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis are welcome. More specifically, original and novel contributions from the following fields are welcome:
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new reactor design including heat control
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preparation, characterization, deactivation and regeneration of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts
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electrocatalysts for fuel cell or water electrolyzers
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photocatalysts for photoelectrochemical devices or artificial photosynthesis.
Transport phenomena
Transport phenomena are as much a key to chemical engineering as is reaction engineering. Indeed some reactions are mass transfer controlled and not kinetically controlled. For example the burning of coal particles in a fluidized bed will be either reaction rate controlled or mass transfer controlled depending upon particle size and temperature. Furthermore, in the area of separation processes, the designs are typically based upon either the calculation of the number of equilibrium stages (e.g. stage-wise distillation calculation) or are rate based (e.g. the calculation of the height of transfer units). The height of transfer units depends upon the mass transfer coefficients in the liquid and gas phases. These two examples illustrated the central role of transport phenomena. More generally, aspects of energy and mass transport penetrate all areas of chemical engineering. Subject wise areas of interest include:
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fluid flow
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heat and mass transfer (single phase and multiphase flow)
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transport related aspects of separation processes
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unit operations such as absorption, adsorption and membrane processes
Given our comprehensive aim, both fundamental and applied papers are welcome.
Separation and purification processes
Separation is an essential process in the chemical industry and in our daily lives. The development of efficient separation and purification processes is critically important to promote a more sustainable and higher global standard of living. The separation and purification processes section welcomes contributions focusing on experimental and theoretical studies of phenomena associated with separation and purification as well as process development and simulation, equipment design and fabrication. Synthesis and modification of materials used in separation and/or purification processes can also be considered if the intended separation and/or purification is an essential part of the work rather than a tool for characterizing a material. Of particular interest are articles aimed at solving separation challenges encountered in emerging technologies including fields such as carbon capture, renewable energy, energy storage and conversion, and resource recovery and recycling. Broadly the section welcomes papers on:
Plant design, management and control
To make products in the chemical industry, process units need to be developed and connected as a flowsheet. The synthesis of reaction paths, specification of unit operations, their connections, and overall flowsheet design fall into the scope of “plant design”. Plants, once designed, must be operated economically, safely, and sustainably through careful scheduling, optimization, and control.
Plant design, management, and control, which were traditionally based on intuition, experience, and heuristics, have gone through much transformation during the last few decades, with the development of systematic design frameworks and superstructure based optimal synthesis and optimal control methods. They are currently poised to go through yet another transformation with the advent of big data and artificial intelligence. Some of the relevant topics in this area include:
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Sustainable process/plant design and operation methods
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Big data based modelling and optimization
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Integration of enterprise-wide planning and supply chain with process operation under uncertainty
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Development of new modelling and optimization methods and their applications using math programming and reinforcement learning.
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Model-based optimal control by combining off- and on-line optimization
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Process trend monitoring and fault detection/diagnosis using AI tools like Deep Neural Networks.
The plant design, management and control section of BMC Chemical Engineering aims to be the forum to discuss the new and latest developments in design, operation, and control of chemical and biological plants in the era of artificial intelligence and the 4th industrial revolution. We believe that the key lies in how these new breeds of technologies and information become blended and incorporated into the current paradigm of first principles based modelling, simulation, and optimization. Doing so will enable us to meet outstanding challenges by addressing more relevant issues and problems, currently limited by the lack of sufficient fundamental knowledge and computational efficiency.
Sustainable chemical and biochemical processes
Sustainability is generally defined as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and has become a watchword of modern society pervading all aspects of policy-making, notably in regard of energy, health, food, transport, and the environment. Chemical engineering and sciences will play a pivotal role in transitioning society from a fossil fuel, centralised infrastructure to a distributed, low carbon world. The Section “Sustainable chemical and biochemical processes” aims to publish promising recent research and review articles encompassing the design, synthesis, modelling, and application of environmentally benign chemical and/or biochemical processes. This section encompasses:
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alternative solvents and feedstocks
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clean catalytic technologies for atom-efficient synthesis or environmental remediation (including tandem chemo-bio routes)
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high-throughput and additive chemical manufacturing
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renewable energy technologies (including biomass valorisation)
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life-cycle and techno-economic assessments
Original contributions should highlight new aspects of chemical engineering in the design, application and/or optimisation of novel or existing academic or commercial processes, emphasising improved sustainability metrics wherever possible. Critical reviews and perspectives on topical challenges in sustainable chemical/biochemical processes are also sought.