Batch process control automated

Development of automated batch process control systems has lagged behind that of continuous process control. Flexible factory scale commercial systems have only begun to appear in the last five years (1-4). Increases in the performance/price ratio of small computers are now making automation of laboratory scale batch processes more practical. 

Syringe-barrel cartridges, disk-holders, plastic pipette-tips, well plates vacuum manifolds for semiautomatic batch processing fully automated autosamplers, xyz liquid handlers and robot-controlled work stations. 

Apparatus. Since all the polymer modification reactions presented in this paper involved gas consumption, an automated gas consumption measuring system was designed, fabricated and used to keep constant pressure and record continuously the consumption of gas in a batch type laboratory scale reactor. Process control, data acquisition, and analysis was carried out using a personal computer (IBM) and an interface device (Lab-master, Tecmar Inc.). 

Preventive measures provide conditions where the incident is unlikely to happen, but its occurrence cannot be totally avoided. In this category, we find measures such as inventory reduction for critical substances, the choice of a continuous rather than a batch process leading to smaller reactor volumes, and a semi-batch rather than a full batch process providing additional means of reaction control. Process automation, safety maintenance plans, etc. are also preventative measures. The aim of these measures is to avoid triggering the incident and thus reducing its consequences. In the frame of mnaway risks, a mnaway remains theoretically possible, but due to process control, its severity is limited and the probability of occurrence reduced, such that it can be controlled before it leads to a critical situation. 

General References Fisher, Batch Control Systems Design, Application, and Implementation, ISA, Research Triangle Park, N.C., 1990. Rosenof and Ghosh, Batch Process Automation, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1987. 

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