Integration of Optimization to the Design of Pulp and Paper Production Processes - Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Application - page 228

Integration of Optimization to the Design
of Pulp and Paper Production Processes

Mika Strömman, Ilkka Seilonen, Jukka Peltola, and Kari Koskinen

School of Electrical Engineering, Aalto University, Aalto, Finland
{mika.stromman,ilkka.seilonen,
jukka.peltola,kari.o.koskinen}@tkk.fi

Abstract. Adopting new methodology in a design process requires changes in
organization, business process, roles, knowledge, data transfer and tools. The
influence of the new methodology has to be evaluated and the costs of changes
calculated before the change is possible. In pulp and paper industry the non-
growing market situation has tightened the competition that much that cutting
the design costs by integrating design activities is not going to be enough. The
design itself has to be improved. In this paper, an optimization method is inte-
grated to an existing design process of pulp and paper facilities. The model of a
new design process is then assessed through a case study and an interview study
to ensure that the design process can be realized in the conceptual design phase
of a real delivery project.

Keywords: Multidisciplinary Design, Process Engineering, Optimization.

1 Introduction

The non-growing market situation in pulp and paper industry is setting requirements
for the design methods. The design process itself has to be conducted efficiently, but
in the last years the costs has already been cut off with better project management and
concurrent engineering. One possibility for rationalization lies in the design itself;
traditionally, the design of the plant is more oriented into structural design and less to
the optimal combination of operational and structural design. The design problem can
be formulated as a bi-level multi-objective optimization problem (acronym:
BLMOO). Mathematical methods for solving BLMOO problems exists and the me-
thod have been applied in process facility design in research projects.
However, the utilization of such optimization methods requires enhancement of the
engineering process so that the required information for optimization is available on
the right time and the results of optimization can be used in design. A design process
describing optimizing design of continuous production processes hasn't been thus far
presented and it is a necessity for adopting BLMOO-methods in real delivery projects.
This research has been conducted as a part of a larger research project in which the
objective is to develop a new optimization based method for designing a process
plant. Our part of the research is to define a model for optimizing design process and
assess the usability of that model. The research methods of this study include