With sufficient interest, I will publish some example on the site. Optimization is often a serious area of concern for those studying or performing chemical engineering. This is a flowsheet that contains the equipment and parameters to successfully accomplish the task at hand. Let's explore this question. In most cases, it is wise to perform topological optimization followed by parametric optimization.
Topological optimization is the optimizing of different possible equipment layouts of the plant.
Depending on the degree of accuracy of the optimization, you may optimize anywhere from four to 50 different possible layouts. But, you have to keep in mind that some are far better than others. The membrane separation unit may not be a bad idea depending on the amount of gas to be purified and the purity required. This is the concept of topological optimization. This brings us to parametric optimization.