Design Considerations, Construction, and Components

Initial synthesis of GMC for process development and optimization studies was accomplished on a small laboratory scale with synthetic runs typically yielding 5-15 g of polymer. However, in order to test GMC on a production basis and introduce it into manufacture, scale-up of the synthesis was necessary. The control of molecular properties and composition had to be considerably better than for most commercial polymers. To this end, a pilot plant for the manufacture of GMC was designed, constructed, and used to produce kilogram quantities of polymer. The scale-up of GMC provides an excellent example of how basic chemical engineering principles are employed in microcircuit fabrication, as well as some of the challenges in synthesis, process control, and purification. The major components of the pilot plant are shown in Fig. 6. 

Supercritical fluid (SCF) food processing plants have become one of the more robust technologies for new applications within the food industry in recent years. The announcement of the construction and start up of a coffee decaffeination plant in Houston, Texas (X) has markedly heightened interest, resulting in increased awareness of the unique factors that apply to the design of the SCF processing plant and, more importantly, the considerations necessary to select equipment and components for installation in a SCF processing plant. 

For RP-faced sandvdch structures the design approaches includes both the unique characteristics introduced by sandwich construction and the special behavior introduced by RP materials. The overall stiffness provided by the interaction of the faces, the core, and their interfaces must be sufficient to meet deflection and deformation limits set for the structures. Overall stiffness of the sandwich component is also a key consideration in design for general instability of elements in compression (Figure 7.47). 

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