Bench-scale equipment

Investigation of the global rates of reaction can be carried out in instrumented bench-scale equipment, such as the RC1 (Mettler-Toledo) plus on-line chemical analysis. Commercially available equipment allows well-controlled process conditions, and can be used in a variety of modes (e.g., isothermal, adiabatic, temperature programmed). The test volumes, which may be up to 2 liters depending on the energy involved, enable reasonable simulation of process conditions, and are more representative than very small samples, particularly for mixed phase systems. The scale of such equipment permits the collection of accurate data. 

Equipment to be Used for the Analysis of Hazards The need for experimental thermodynamic and kinetic data is clear by now. The equipment designed to provide this information for the chemicals involved are described in Chapter 2, and include the DSC, DTA, ARC, Sikarex, SETARAM C-80, and DIERS technology. Kinetic data for the desired reaction are preferably obtained with instrumented bench-scale equipment such as the RC1. This type of equipment is discussed in Section 3.3. 

Bench-Scale Equipment for Batch/Tank Reactors... 

In the late 1980s, more specialized bench-scale equipment was developed, such as the polymerization reactor [186], and a unit for catalytic reaction studies [187]. 

In the literature, examples are given of bench-scale equipment designed for special fields such as for polymerizations [186] and for kinetic studies of catalytic reactions [187]. 

This section discusses how the interpretation, evaluation, and correlation of test results from bench-scale equipment can be integrated into an approach to inherent process safety involving reactive systems. 

A part of the test plan must include testing for the consequences of equipment malfunction, deviations in process conditions, and human error. Bench-scale equipment, for example, the RC1, is quite suitable for such experiments. By analysis of the process, critical conditions can be defined, which then need to be tested in order to be able to proceed safely from the laboratory to pilot plant studies. In testing abnormal conditions or process deviations, caution is required to assure that no uncontrollable hazard is created in the laboratory. Typical deviations, including impact on the process, are discussed in the following paragraph. 

Because of the glamour of biotechnology, these applications have received a disproportionate interest by academic researchers. However, this is not a major market for ultrafiltration equipment, and many of the plants use little more than bench-scale equipment. 

Thermostatting of the columns was accomplised at 62°C with a small oil filled bath (model PY1, Bench Scale Equipment Co.). 

Testing in bench-scale equipment is a valuable experimental method for investigation of the impact of deactivation on the catalyst performance when full-size catalyst pellets, industrial mass velocity and pressure are used. Bench-scale testing is often... 

Laboratory facilities and bench-scale equipment are also available in support of the work conducted in the miniplant. Laboratory facilities are gener-... 

Scale-up potential has been investigated through the study of the hydrottynamics for three cold fiow models. The scale-up is not considered to create any severe problems in reactor operation, since it wiU be associated with design features not easily attainable to small, bench-scale equipment. Therefore, both the operability (adoption of suitable automation measures) and the performance (rational design) are expected to be substantially improved. 

Avoid excessive dispersion in noncoalescing systems. Creation of tiny, hard-to-coalesce drops can become a problem if phase separation is required later. Test the system using bench scale equipment to see if and at what speed undesirably small drops form. 

Other types of pilot plant, including commercial units embracing this principle, are available. Some selected vendors of pilot plants, although this is not an exclusive list, include UHDE, Thar Designs, Applied Separations, Chematur, and Separex.. Likewise, bench-scale equipment for preliminary evaluations are manufactured by such companies as Autoclave Engineers (now called Snap-Tite), Chematur, Nova Swiss, Applied Separations, Nova Sep, Thar Designs, Pressure Products, Inc., Supercritical Fluid Technologies, and Separex. 

Reactor. The polymerization tests were carried out in a stainless steel reactor with approximately 7.6-liter (2-gallon) capacity. The reactor was built by Bench Scale Equipment, Dayton, Ohio, specifically for Phillips R D to be used in anionic polymerization studies. The monomer and solvent tanks are connected directly to the reactor and form a closed system. The weights of monomers and solvent tanks can be read directly and the errors are less than 1% ( 40g.) for the solvent and 0.1g. for the monomers. For this study, a nitrogen pressure of about 350 k.Pa (50 psig) in the reactor was maintained and the impeller mixing speed was 300 r.p.m.. The temperature was controlled by the automatically regulated steam pressure in the reactor jacket. 

In a full-scale SCR unit two or three layers of honeycomb elements are used. In these layers several elements are placed for ex situ testing at regular time intervals [129]. Testing these samples in bench-scale equipment produces overall rate constants which depend on the location in the SCR reactor. Moreover, information is obtained when catalyst layers have to be exchanged. 

Catalyst Tests. They were performed in a bench scale equipment that was described elsewhere (2). Octane number (RON) was taken as a measure of activity and liquid yield (f C ) as a measure of selectivity. These properties, the percentage of aromatics in the liquid (%ArL) and the percentage of C1-C3 were calculated from chromatographic analysis data, as previously described (2). 

The experiments in bench-scale equipment have shown that methane is formed from high volatile coals at 70 atm. at a rate and in a yield consistent with previous assumptions for the second stage of a conceptual process for gasifying coal. 

Starting with bench scale equipment (up to 100 L in the so-called kilo lab) or pilot scale fermentors (up to 5000 L when titer is low), this early preparative work uses whatever synthetic method or fermentation conditions (the microorganism and the nutrients) are immediately available. In most cases of synthesis, the route may be a somewhat streamlined version of the discovery route or a temporary route that may or may not include parts of synthesis schemes being considered for eventual development. In most cases of biosynthesis, the microorganism is that from the discovery stage, but taken from whatever stage of microbial strain improvement is amenable to scale up from shake flasks or bench scale fermentors. 

Table 3 Specifications of bench-scale equipment Furnace size 750x750x900 mm...

Provided equilibrium and mass transfer rate data are available, preliminary costing calculations such as the ones above present no particular difficulty. These data are increasingly available in the literature and, if not available, are not difficult to obtain with suitable bench-scale equipment. The extraction of material from a solid substrate using marginally subcritical liquid CO2 as solvent is taken as a further example below. 

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