EQUIPARTITION OF FORCES: REVIEW OF A NEW PRINCIPLE FOR PROCESS DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION

Abstract

We present a general proof for a design principle developed during the last two years: The principle of equipartition of forces. The principle is derived for parallel, coupled transport processes without restrictions on the phenomenological coefficients. Minimum entropy production is obtained for the total system, when the thermodynamic forces of transport are the same over all parallel paths in the system. We review some of the results obtained so far by application of the principle to distillation columns.