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Abstract
Membrane processes have found increasing industrial applications worldwide. For membrane processes to deliver their desired performances and mitigate the effect of disturbances, automatic controllers must be installed. Before the installation of controllers, operability analysis is a crucial step to evaluate how well the processes can be controlled, and to determine how process design can be improved for better control. However, existing applications of operability analysis in membrane processes are limited.
This thesis extends the application of operability analysis to a multiple-stage membrane process, exemplified by a detailed case study of a 12-stage industrial whey ultrafiltration (UF) process. Process dynamic models are determined to describe the transient behaviour of process performance caused by disturbances and long-term fouling. Steady-state nonlinear operability analysis is conducted to identify inherent limitations of the process. Using the process dynamic models, dynamic operability analysis is performed to determine the effects of dynamic behaviour on process and controller design.
Steady-state operability analysis shows that the whey UF process is not able to mitigate the effects of high concentrations of true protein in the fresh whey feed. The ability of the process to mitigate the effects of disturbances is also adversely affected by long-term membrane fouling. Mid-run washing is therefore necessary to restore control performance after long periods of operation.
Besides demonstrating the adverse effects of long-term membrane fouling on operability, dynamic operability analysis identifies the manipulated variables that can deliver the best control performance. It also indicates that control performance can be improved by installing equipment (e.g. buffer tanks) upstream of the process. Dynamic operability analysis shows that recycling of the retentate stream has a profound effect on the plant-wide dynamics and reduces significantly the achievable speed of process response under automatic control. However, retentate recycling is essential during operation to minimize membrane fouling. Although reducing the number of stages in the whey UF process can improve the achievable speed of process response under automatic control, process performance will fluctuate significantly from its desired level. A trade-off therefore exists between process performance and control performance that should be addressed during process and controller design.