Data-centric process systems engineering: A push towards PSE 4.0

Abstract Process Systems Engineering (PSE) is now a mature field with a well-established body of knowledge, computational-oriented frameworks and methodologies designed and implemented for addressing chemical processes related problems spanning a wide range of scales in time and space. A common feature of many PSE approaches relies in their mostly deductive nature, based on a deep understanding of the underlying Chemical Engineering Science. Given the current data-intensive industrial and societal contexts, new sources of process or product information are now easily made available and should be exploited to complement and expand the classical PSE paradigm with inductive data-driven reasoning and knowledge discovery methodologies. In this article, based upon our over 25 years of research and teaching experience in the field, we discuss the scope and trends of this PSE evolution, refer to several relevant Data-Centric PSE approaches, and identify the main components, applications and future opportunities of this PSE 4.0 perspective.