GOPRESUSE – Towards generic optimizations and prospective evaluations for the design of sustainable disruptive process technologies and resource management systems by connecting statistical entropy, economic and environmental aspects.

The continuously rising demand for resources is pushing us to exceed the planetary boundaries. At present, methods as life cycle assessment and techno-economic assessment have been proposed to develop sustainable systems and processes. However, these traditional methods do not allow us to predict the sustainability of disruptive technologies starting from a blank canvas, as these rely on very specific information that only becomes available at higher technology readiness levels (TRL) and a background system. Hence, methods are needed that solely rely on generic information available at any TRL. This is exactly what I aim to achieve in this research project: I will create an innovative design-for-sustainability paradigm that can deliver forecasts and can optimize the development of novel processes and systems in view of economic and environmental sustainability at any TRL. To this end, I will connect statistical entropy to generic energy calculations and generic capital cost estimates and I will define multi-objective optimization problem formulations and solution strategies. As validation, three applications will be studied: (i) the design of lignocellulosic biorefineries, (ii) polyolefin plastic waste management and (iii) phosphorous management. The proposed groundbreaking research will open avenues towards my future career as an independent academic principal investigator working on process-based modeling, control and optimization for the development of sustainable systems.

Keywords:RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROCESS OPTIMIZATION, SUSTAINABILITY, STATISTICAL ENTROPY

Disciplines:Modelling, simulation and optimisation, Chemical process design, Process control, Recycling, Agricultural and natural resource economics, environmental and ecological economics