Bench-scale tests program

Table II. Typical Analysis of Colorado Oil Shale Used in Bench-Scale Test Program...

In Situ Methanation of Carbon Oxides. During the bench-scale test program, we noticed that carbon oxides were apparently being metha-nated in the reactor because more hydrocarbons and less carbon oxides were present in the products than would be indicated by carbon and carbon oxides balances. We then carried out two tests with no oil shale... 

Following completion of the bench scale test program, an engineering contractor conducted a study and prepared the preliminary design for a pilot plant having a nominal production capacity of 20 short tons of sulfur/day when treating pure sulfur dioxide. This study found that fixed-bed catalysis was more practical. The preliminary pilot plant design, therefore, provided for a fixed-bed primary reactor of the shell-and-tube type in which the catalyst would be in the tubes. 

The vendor conducted bench-scale tests with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 1991 to 1994 under the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Emerging Technology Program. According to the vendor, field testing is currently underway. 

A number of standard and special bench scale tests along with the Drop Tube Furnace System (DTFS) and pilot scale Controlled Mixing History Furnace (CMHF) were employed in this program. 

There is no quantitative limit on small quantities and so the interpretation is left to a common sense judgment of what is appropriate for a lab scale or pilot scale testing program. In an early proposed rule, the EPA noted that a numerical limit would be arbitrary because different types of R D involve different quantities of R D materials. For example, bench level research, pilot plant development, and production testing all require different quantities of R D material. The EPA noted that 80,000 gallons of crude oil has been categorized as a small quantity in a pilot plant that operated over several months. ... 

Lehigh University Low Temperature Process. Bench scale tests on a variety of cata-lyst/sorbents have been conducted at Lehigh University. The object of the program is to evaluate the ability of various catalyst compositions and conflgurations to remove SO2 and NO,. The work is in a very early stage of development however, the construction and field testing of a small rotating reactor is planned (Makansi, 1990). 

In addition to continuous bench-scale work, CCDC carried out a rather extensive laboratory program involving the use of the microautoclave reactor. The program developed tests to compare the activities of different solvents. These tests quickly evaluated a solvent so that the performance under coal liquefaction conditions could be predicted. The tests are now used at the Wilsonville SRC Pilot Plant as a means of determining when stable operation has been achieved. 

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. 

The solvent extraction process has not yet undergone pilot plant investigation, and all the above estimates are based on small laboratory or bench scale experiments. If further testing under practical conditions substantiates the laboratory observations, it appears that the solvent extraction process definitely has an area of specialization in the over-all saline water conversion program. 

The test program was set up in three phases bench scale,... 

Dejarme, L., and G.D. Lecakes. 2008. Bench-Scale Evaluation of VX Hydrolysis, TRRP 11, Test Report. Rev. 0. Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Program Manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives. 

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