This repository documents my personal project to develop practical process engineering skills, including optimization, data visualization, and process analysis.
- Excel Solver (optimization with constraints)
- Python (Matplotlib for engineering plots)
- Steady-state material balances
- Basic process modeling and analysis
- Process flow understanding
Objective:
To learn optimization and data visualization tools used in process engineering.
What I Built:
- Excel Goal Seek and Solver models to maximize profit for a small cookie production system
- Python plots for process variables (e.g., water temperature vs viscosity)
- Structured engineering-style graphs with proper labels and units
Applied steady-state material balance principles to different process systems:
- Combined two inlet streams with different compositions
- Calculated outlet flow rate and composition
- Modeled reaction: A → B
- Applied conversion (X = 0.6) to determine outlet flow rates
- Extended analysis to a multi-unit process
- Applied separation efficiency (90% recovery of B)
Process Flow:
Feed → Reactor → Separator → Product + Waste
Description:
A feed stream of 100 kmol/h of component A is processed in a reactor where A is converted to B. The outlet is then separated to recover the desired product.
Key Results:
- Conversion: 60%
- B produced: 60 kmol/h
- Product flow rate: 94 kmol/h
- Product B recovered: 54 kmol/h
- Waste flow rate: 6 kmol/h
- Microsoft Excel (process modeling and optimization)
- Python (Matplotlib for visualization)
The repository contains the following key files:
-
Conversion vs product.py– Python script showing the relationship between conversion and product formation -
Viscosity of water vs temperature.py– Python script for plotting temperature vs viscosity using engineering data -
temperature vs viscocity.pdf– Exported plot of viscosity vs temperature -
Excel solver profit optimization.xlsx– Excel model using Solver to maximize profit under constraints -
reactor separator model.xlsx– Excel model for steady-state material balance of reactor and separator system -
Process Design Project summary.pdf– One-page summary of the final process design project
- Application of steady-state material balance equations
- Understanding of conversion in reaction systems
- Use of Excel Solver for basic optimization
- Visualization of engineering relationships using Python
This project demonstrates the integration of core process engineering concepts with computational tools. It provides a foundation for analyzing and designing simple chemical processes.
- Inclusion of energy balances
- Development of process flow diagrams (PFDs)
- More advanced optimization techniques