Índice de desempenho aplicado a sistemas reativos baseados em conceitos entrópicos.

Abstract

The applications of new methodologies for analysis and optimization of reactive systems can be considered as decisive factor for the growth and consolidation of a given industrial process. Several studies demonstrate that when thermodynamics fundamentals, especially the second law, are inserted in the methodology of analysis and optimization of chemical process, better results are obtained. This is due to the ability of the second law of thermodynamics to measure, through entropy, the tendency for energy to flow in a particular direction so that a more uniform energy distribution is achieved. Thus, entropy becomes a property of fundamental importance in the analysis of such process. However, despite the growing development of these methodologies, there is a lack indicators that prove the improvement of the system under study, that is, an indicator that simply and objectively identifies the direction of the optimal operating state is lacking. Therefore, the objective of this work was the development of an entropic performance index for application in reactional systems, which is based on classical thermodynamics, especially in the concept of maximum entropy. This indicator uses the basic concept of maximum entropy to indicate how efficiently a given chemical reaction has been processed in order to achieve the maximum productivity of the product of primary economic interest and consequently, the minimum entropy of the final system. To illustrate the performance of the develop index, it was used as a parameter for choosing the best state of operation in three case studies. Through the developed index, one can easily state which is the best operating condition, to prove this premise a set of classic indicators are used in a auxiliary way. The results indicate that the index is consistent, efficient and also reveals how far the process is from its optimal condition, besides being easy to apply.