Batch process integration for resource conservation toward cleaner production – A state-of-the-art review

Abstract

Process Integration (PI) for resource conservation has become an increasingly popular topic of research in line with growing emphasis toward circular economy and rising concern on environmental protection. PI for resource conservation in continuous processes has been relatively well-established as compared to PI developments for batch processes that have lagged behind and are gradually getting attention. This paper presents a comprehensive and up-to-date review on the development and future research direction of batch process integration (BPI) methodologies for resource conservation covering energy, water and other types of industrial resources. The BPI methodologies are categorized according to batch process scheduling flexibility. The first category is the fixed, or pre-specified schedule BPI methodologies whereby time is treated as a parameter. The second category is the flexible or variable-schedule BPI methodologies that considers time as a variable. The fixed and flexible-schedule batch processes are further sub-divided and analyzed as graphical and mathematical programming-based BPI tools. Covering literature from 2000 to 2021 that comprises more than 160 publications in over twenty years period on BPIRC progress, trends and direction, the review highlights the significant role of BPI in driving small to medium scale industries toward cleaner production and circular economy.