Process design is the determination of the optimal interconnection of processing units as well as the optimal type and design of the units comprising the system. Many tasks are involved in the design procedure including determination of steady state heat and material balances. The PI's research involves computer simulation and optimization of this procedure. This equipment grant will supply funds for the PI to purchase a 386 microcomputer to be used as one hardware component in his research. Specifically, the computer will be used to (1) facilitate program development and communication in improving the performance of a chemical process simulator on a supercomputer,and (2) explore the appropriate mix and interchange of computations between the personal computer level and the supercomputer level.
