Chemical process development objectives

The objective of the book is not to turn the reader into a specialist in thermal safety. It is to guide those who perform risk analysis of chemical processes, develop new processes, or are responsible for chemical production, to understand the thermal aspects of processes and to perform a scientifically founded-but practically oriented-assessment of chemical process safety. This assessment may serve as a basis for the optimization or the development of thermally safe processes. The methods presented are based on the author s long years of experience in the practice of safety assessment in industry and teaching students and professionals... 

Although this presentation is concerned with people in chemical process development organizations in the pharmaceutical industry, there is much that is applicable to people in almost all industries. First, it is worth placing people in the context of the most important element in an organization, leadership, recognizing that infinite variations are needed to suit infinite circumstances. Leadership sets the tone, evolving as objectives change. 

The creation of a process to meet FDA requirements is a multidisciplinary activity. Although the Chemical Process Development organization generates the core process, its shaping and implementation to meet the needs of all other parties involved (particularly Regulatory, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Quality Assurance) requires an extraordinary level of collaboration. The principal objective is to produce, and to demonstrate that you have indeed produced, a high-quality API in a well-controlled system of operations. 

Sodium silicates have found numerous applications in the oil industry, particularly in EOR chemical processes. The objective of this paper is to review these applications and relate them to the basic properties and reactions of sodium silicate, in order to develop a better understanding of how silicates are used to solve a number of interesting problems in oil recovery. 

No single method or algorithm of optimization exists that can be apphed efficiently to all problems. The method chosen for any particular case will depend primarily on (I) the character of the objective function, (2) the nature of the constraints, and (3) the number of independent and dependent variables. Table 8-6 summarizes the six general steps for the analysis and solution of optimization problems (Edgar and Himmelblau, Optimization of Chemical Processes, McGraw-HiU, New York, 1988). You do not have to follow the cited order exac tly, but vou should cover all of the steps eventually. Shortcuts in the procedure are allowable, and the easy steps can be performed first. Steps I, 2, and 3 deal with the mathematical definition of the problem ideutificatiou of variables and specification of the objective function and statement of the constraints. If the process to be optimized is very complex, it may be necessaiy to reformulate the problem so that it can be solved with reasonable effort. Later in this section, we discuss the development of mathematical models for the process and the objec tive function (the economic model). 

What is very important in process development is the personnel overlap when changing the scale of the process. The head of the team that is to continue the development of a process should be involved in the research on smaller scale. Also, an important member or head of the team in the smaller scale research should participate in the further step(s) of process development. Often, a parallel operation of teams is required instead of operation in series. A pilot plant, mostly composed of existing equipment items in a company, is often required as the final step in process development. A verification of procedures and models is usually not necessarily the main objective of pilot studies. The most common reason for manufacture at pilot scale is the production of kilograms of the product for market purposes and toxicity tests. A close interaction between chemists and chemical engineers is necessary at all stages of process development. 

Heinzle, E., Weirich, D., Brogli, F., Hoffmann, V., Roller, G., Verduyn, M.A. and Hungerbuhler, K. (1998) Ecological and Economic Objective Functions for Screening in Integrated Development of Fine Chemical Processes. 1. Flexible and Expandable Framework Using... 

This chapter is an introduction to process dynamics and control for those students who have had little or no contact or experience with real chemical engineering processes. The objective is to illustrate where process control fits into the picture and to indicate its relative importance in the operation, design, and development of a chemical engineering plant. 

Control of the multitude of pathways which feed molecules can take is the primary objective of aU catalyst and process developments. The work covered in this chapter focuses primarily on describing the approaches in material and catalysis development which have led to major advances in zeolite application in hydrocarbon conversion. The breaking and formation of carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds constitute the majority of the chemical transformations involved here with the less prevalent, but very important, breaking of carbon bonds with sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen taking place in parallel. 

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