Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Chemical Engineering was the subject of a one day conference in Paris 13 December 2024, organised by the European Federation of Chemical Engineering.
AI and its sub-set Machine Learning (ML) is applied in industry for existing chemical plants to improve process control via analysis of variables. It is also used to generate a surrogate model of a flow sheet model via data generation by the flow sheet model. The surrogate model is then used to optimise Operational Expenditure and Capital (investment) Expenditure. So far, flow sheet models cannot yet be generated using AI. This is a summary of the presentation by professor Mattia Vallerio, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Professor Allessandro di Pretoro of ENSIACET, Toulouse, France remarked that for a reliable use of AI the data should be first cleaned (pre-treated) before used for machine learning. And also, various software packages should be tested and compared, before they can be reliably used, as surrogate models easily can give totally wrong answers. Data driven models should not be trusted, just because they are data driven.
Professor Artur Schweidtmann of Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, showed amongst other that AI can be used to generate process design images, to check Process Flow Sheets (PFS) and to check P&IDs for instance on completeness. An example he gave was the suggestion to add a relieve valve to a pressurised vessel. It can also be used to augment HAZOP studies. These results were obtained by his research group in cooperation with companies, Shell, Siemens, Danone, Fluor, and Linde.
In the remainder of the congress specific examples of AI applications in various chemical engineering subjects were presented.
The participants (130) from all over Europe; 50% industry, 50% academia, played an active role in the round table discussions. The only absentees of the conference were software providers. I was very satisfied that this conference provided the present status and the future outlook AI in Chemical Engineering.