Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Approaches in Particle Technology

Abstract

Since the early 2010s, after decades of premature excitement and disillusionment, the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is experiencing exponential growth, with massive real-world applications and high adoption rates both in daily life and in industry. In particle technology, there are already many examples of successful AI applications, for predictive modeling, process control and optimization, fault recognition, even for mechanistic modeling. However, in comparison to its still untapped potential and to other industries, further expansion in adoption rates and, consequently, gains in productivity, efficiency, and cost reduction are still possible. This review article is intended to introduce AI and its application scenarios and provide an overview and examples of current use cases of different aspects and unit operations in particle technology, such as grinding, extrusion, synthesis, characterization, or scale up. In addition, hybrid modeling approaches are presented with examples of the intelligent combination of different methods to reduce data requirements and achieve beneficial synergies. Finally, an outlook for future opportunities is given, depicting promising approaches, currently being in the conception or implementation phase.