The proposed research concerns the development of computer-aided design algorithms for optimizing membrane separation flowsheets used for gaseous separations. The approach to be used involves combining simple approximate models for the membrane modules in a larger network superstructure, followed by the use of mixed-integer nonlinear programming methods(MINLP)to optimize the flowsheet structure. This general approach has been used for solving other separation train synthesis problems in the design area, however its application to this is new and timely.
