A teoria matemática do índice de desempenho entrópico – desenvolvimento e aplicações para a engenharia das reações químicas.

Abstract

The scientific literature has shown great interest in the use of entropic concepts in the structure of methodologies for the analysis and optimization of chemical reaction engineering process, since the maximum transformations occur when working closer to reversibility. However, the entropic modeling, specifically, the methodology of the minimum entropic production rate, presents some implementation difficulties in the industrial environment, mainly due to the specificity of the models obtained for analysis. Consequently, the entropic performance index appears naturally as an alternative to circumvent the problems of the entropic methodology. The objective of this research is to present the development of a mathematical theory for the entropic performance index, seeking to interpret it physically from elements of communication theory. Thus, using mathematical efforts taking into account different approaches to the concept of entropy, it was possible to structure the theoretical basis of the entropic performance index, which can be interpreted as a property that measures the similarity between two physical conditions, which are directly associated with the performance of a reactional system. Subsequently, the link between the minimum entropy production rate methodology and the entropic index was mathematically demonstrated, exposing that the index is a quantitative tool that shows the trajectory of the minimum entropic production rate of chemical reaction engineering process and, consequently, maximum performance. Applying the methodology developed from practical examples, it was observed the capacity and simplicity of the entropic performance index as a tool for the analysis and optimization of reactive systems, verifying that the search for the optimization of a reactive system can be characterized as efforts to maximize the entropic performance index (i.e., minimize the entropic production rate of the reactive system), demonstrating a new paradigm for the analysis and optimization of chemical reaction engineering process.