This books presents the fundamentals of nonlinear and mixed-integer optimization, and their applications in the important area of process synthesis in chemical engineering. The reader is acquainted with the basics of convex analysis and nonlinear optimization and is introduced to the elementary concepts of mixed-integer linear nonlinear optimization. Topics that are unique include the theory and methods for mixed-integer non-linear optimization, introduction to modeling issues in process synthesis, and optimization-based approaches in the synthesis of heat recovery systems, distillation-based systems, and reactor-based systems. This book fills a gap in available textbooks since there are no other books covering either the fundamentals or applications of nonlinear and mixed-integer optimization. It is designed keeping in mind that it can be used as a graduate textbook in one or two semester courses in nonlinear and mixed-integer optimization and applications in process synthesis, as well as a reference for any engineering student or researcher concerned with continuous and discrete nonlinear optimization issues in engineering design, process synthesis, process operations, applied mathematics and operations research, industrial management, and systems engineering.

The author of this book has contributed to this field, notably in the past decade. His research has concentrated on the development of a wide range of techniques for mixed-integer nonlinear programming. The book is a testimony to Floudas' work.... it would make a useful aid for graduates or postgraduates on a process synthesis course, or to practitioners in the field. Chemistry & Industry
useful for practitioners ... it would make a useful aid for graduates or postgraduates on a process synthesis course, or to practitioners in the field. * Eric S, Fraga, Chemistry & ondustry, November 1996 *
sets a standard for clarity and completeness that will be difficult to surpass. The author presents a comprehensive survey of this field, to which he himself has notably contributed, and thus combines and unifies diverse results that hitherto were scattered throughout the literature * Zentralblatt fur Mathematik und ihre Grenzgebiete *