Chemical Engineering January 2019 - 44

TABLE 1. SELECTED PILOT-PLANT CONSIDERATIONS
Separations
Process safety
Corrosion
Temperature control
Catalyst deactivation
Hydrodynamics
cantly affect the kinetic rate, scaleup
could be accomplished by using the
same operating conditions as the
pilot plant, maintaining similar reactor
geometry, liquid hold-up volume
and residence time. Conversely, a
CSTR with multiple phases, complex
chemistry, a high heat-transfer
load, solids or catalyst addition or
solids removal would probably require
additional validation beyond
the normal pilot scale. Similarly, a
bio-based CSTR with live organisms,
enzymes or yeast certainly requires
multiple steps.
To reduce the
overall
development
timeline, a different tactic may
be to incorporate the innovation into
an existing operating plant possibly
as part of a revamp, debottlenecking
or modernization project. Or alternatively,
a short, controlled " plant
trial " could be attempted. For some
researchers, a plant trial with a new
catalyst is regarded as a simple
" drop in. " Conversely, for plant and
operations managers, just the mere
thought of this " experiment " can
them give nightmares, as any unexpected
loss in performance can
have an enormous impact on plant
economics and profitability. Nevertheless,
using existing hardware and
infrastructure assets may allow the
development to go straight from the
pilot-plant stage to commercialization
without the expense of a full-blown
demonstration unit.
One approach for commercializing
new reaction systems is to incorporate
an incremental slip-stream reactor
in parallel with the existing reac44
Vapor-liquid
equilibrium (VLE)
Liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE)
Vapor-liquid-liquid equilibrium (VLLE)
Runaways
Flammability and toxicity
Type
Mechanism
Estimated rate
Heat input
Heat removal
Reaction quenching
Replacement
Regeneration
Installing pretreatment
Mixing
Pressure drop
Phase separation
Flow distribution
tor. While this approach avoids some
of the costs associated with a largescale
demonstration, it may present
less than ideal conditions for validating
the new technology. Examples
of limitations could be restrictions
on equipment location or plot area,
the inability to independently control
pressure
or
flows,
This
usually begins by completing a
survey of the current market conditions
and evaluating existing commercially
available technologies. Pertinent
background information and data
from trusted sources and dedicated
industry reports are helpful in building
the business case to move forward.
Knowledge on several factors
can help support the decision to fund
or abandon the program, including
the following:
* Market size
* Forecasted growth
* Competition and any emerging
technologies
* Estimated production costs
* Worldwide production facilities and
announced projects
difficulties
with equipment during startup and
shutdown or the inability to maintain
steady operations because of moving
production-rate targets. Lastly,
because the highest priority of plant
operating personnel will always be
the main production unit, the experimental
program and the demonstration
unit may not get the attention
needed to guarantee success.
Unquestionably, irrespective of
the number of development steps,
before operating companies fully
commit to commercializing improvements,
they must be convinced that
this new investment provides significantly
enhanced economics, the
technology has longterm viability and
sustainability and the process development
was rigorous, covering all
aspects of the design and operation.
Patent and literature search
After an initial idea is formed, two
critical tasks need to be completed:
a project justification study and a
patent or literature search of previous
work in the field prior to embarking
on any development program.
Even before proof-of-concept has
been fully cemented, the R&D program
needs to have economic justification
to determine its viability.
This analysis can answer key questions:
Does the new technology significantly
reduce variable operating
cost? Is the current market overbuilt
with low plant-capacity utilization?
What are the price trends and preferred
feedstocks? Armed with recent
and credible data, this detailed
justification study provides the support
and confidence to proceed with
what will most likely be a multimilliondollar
investment.
Before embarking on any new program,
a careful assessment of the patent
landscape should be performed to
ensure that the new idea is not infringing
on the rights of others. If infringement
is suspected, the program can
be abandoned, or ways to circumvent
the claim(s) need to be considered.
This initial examination will ultimately
serve as the foundation for a comprehensive
" Freedom to Operate " (FTO),
which is the legal opinion on whether
the process, catalyst, equipment or
their combination may be infringing on
patents held by others. A careful review
of past work can also sometimes
point the current program to more
productive areas of research. If an
idea or concept is completely new to
the field, it is important to decide early
on whether to file for patent protection
or keep it as a closely held trade
secret. Keep in mind that patenting a
novel idea or process that may take
10 years to commercialize is a doubleedged
sword - while it does grant
you the right of unencumbered use, it
also alerts competitors to your plans.
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Chemical Engineering January 2019

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