The Relative Exergy Destroyed: A New Tool for Process Design and Control

Since the eco-efficiency of all industrial processes/plants has become more and more important, engineers need to find a way to integrate control loop configuration and measurements of eco-efficiency. In this paper, we present the relative exergy destroyed array (REDA), a new tool to measure the relative eco-efficiency of a process. The REDA is a means to compare eco-efficiency of multi input-multi output processes for different combinations of control structures. Although based on steady state information, it is a simple tool for comparing eco-efficiency of a process with several process control structures. The results obtained from the REDA are interpreted and explained with the help of simple case studies. REDA will help guide the process designer to find a quick optimal control design with low operating cost/eco-efficiency.