In order to monitor

control and optimize the overall chemical process

it is necessary to observe different kinds of variables/parameters. The problem of placing sensors with respect to different criteria

for instance

total cost

system reliability

system accuracy

is known as the problem of sensor network design. This paper studies the problem of non-redundant sensor network design for linear processes. Much research has been done for this problem

but no one of them considered the case that multiple sensors could be used to measure the same variable. Additionally

prior studies neither considered cost

system reliability and system accuracy simultaneously

nor were capable of guaranteeing a global optimal result. In this paper

based on the graph theory concepts

a MILP model is presented for designing the cost-optimal sensor network considering system reliability and system accuracy. The proposed model also consideres the case that multiple sensors could be used to measure the same variable. In order to get a global optimal result

the MILP model is solved by using branch- bound method with the existing software LINGO. The efficiency of the MILP model is demonstrated through an application on the steam-metering network.