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Press release

13 November 2008

PSE awards 2008 Model-Based Innovation Prize

Winning U. Sydney, LSU team describes optimal control of antisolvent crystallisation

Press materials

Crystal Growth & Design

LONDON, 13 November 2008 --- Process Systems Enterprise (PSE), providers of the gPROMS advanced process modelling (APM) software and related services, today announced the 2008 winner of the €5000 annual PSE Model-Based Innovation Prize.

The prize has been awarded to the joint University of Sydney – Louisiana State University team of S. Mostafa Nowee, Ali Abbas and José A. Romagnoli for their paper "Model-based optimal strategies for controlling particle size in antisolvent crystallization operations", published in the American Chemical Society's Crystal Growth & Design journal. The prize will be formally awarded at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Philadelphia next week.

The judges awarded the paper high points in each of the five evaluation categories. They summarised it as "an excellent paper that includes complex modelling, model validation and both off-line and on-line optimisation in gPROMS".

Dr Ali Abbas, who submitted the winning entry on behalf of his co-researchers, said "We are delighted to have won this award. Control of crystallisation particle size is a challenging problem. We were able through the use of the gPROMS software to not only streamline the modelling, validation and optimisation of the crystallisation process, but to also understand the effects of specific interactions that play key roles in controlling the crystal end-product particle size."

He adds "Succeeding in experimentally validating the optimal control strategy confirmed the strength of this model-based approach which is at the heart of our research, and it is very pleasing to see industry picking up on this innovation".

PSE is a leader in the emerging field of Model-Based Innovation (MBI), in which detailed high-accuracy mathematical models of processes and products are used to accelerate innovation and minimise risk. MBI helps to integrate R&D activities with engineering design while streamlining development and reducing costs. gPROMS is the world's leading modelling environment for such applications, and is widely used throughout the chemical, petrochemical, food and pharmaceuticals sectors, including some 200 research organisations around the world, for optimisation of design and operation of process plants.

The MBI prize is open to researchers from industry, academia and research organisations. The judges favour research that focuses on novel areas of process and related technology or novel approaches to traditional process areas, as well as applications that have a positive impact on society and the environment.

Mark Matzopoulos, Chief Operating Officer of PSE, says "As a company that grew from research and innovation, we are keen to recognise the efforts of others who are doing the same. We congratulate the winners on the depth and quality of their work."

Materials

Standard "About PSE" and "About gPROMS"

About PSE
About gPROMS

Images and captions

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Suggested caption Image
"Ali Abbas, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia"

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Ali Abbas
"S. Mostafa Nowee, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, I.R. Iran and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia"

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S. Mostafa Nowee
"Jose Romagnoli, Gordon A. and Mary Cain Endowed Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University, USA, and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia"

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