Optimization of an Extraction-Evaporation Process

by Wesley Pate

Submitted : Spring 2013

The goal of this project is to maximize the annual profit made by the extraction of chemical “A” from the oil waste. To accomplish this, created an equation for annual profit based upon the relationships between the amounts of chemical retrieved; the size of the vessel need to hold the water flow; and the costs and profit from such, basically subtracting the annual cost from annual sales. With some algebraic manipulation of the variables and equations given, I put the equation into the terms of a single variable “W”, water flow. Once I had a general equation for the annual profit, the next step included taking the first derivative and setting the derivative to zero. Solving for “W” yielded the amount of water per hour that result in the maximum profit within a year.

[ Back ]