Equip the Process

You now have a formulation and a flow sheet for your process. The next step is to get equipment to do the job. Here there are two possibilities  

The second is the most common situation. In either case you must look ahead. How are you going to do things on a production scale. Should you modify the lab formulation before going on  

Design and Development of Biological, Chemical, Food and Pharmaceutical Products J.A. Wesselingh, S. Kiil and M.E. Vigild 2007 John Wiley Sons, Ltd 

CD mix starch and water cook under pressure foam by pressure relief (T) shape and cut foam toast surface of foam dry the snacks (7) cool the snacks 

This lesson has introduced you to the choice of equipment for the plant. 

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Since quite a bit of difference exists between raw materials, the recipe, and the equipment, the processing procedure and conditions vary a lot. Also, the processing procedures of commercial products are usually not available to the public. Thus, much work needs to be done to find the best procedure and condition for each individual system. In general, a good procedure is a combination of optimal processing time, temperature, and rotating speed of the screw (in the case of extruder use) or the roll nip (in the case of calender use). 

Howden An early flue-gas desulfurization process using a lime or chalk slurry in wooden grid-packed towers. The calcium sulfate/sulfite waste product was intended for use in cement manufacture, but this was never commercialized. The key to the process was the use of a large excess of calcium sulfate in suspension in the scrubbing circuit, which minimized the deposition of scale on the equipment. The process was developed by Imperial Chemical Industries and James Howden Company in the 1930s and operated for several years at power stations at Fulham, London, and Tir John, South Wales, being finally abandoned during World War II. British Patents 420,539 433,039. 

In such equipment the process fluid flows through finned tubes and cooling air is blown across them with fans. Figures 8.4(g) and (h) show the two possible arrangements. The economics of application of air coolers favors services that allow 25-40°F temperature difference between ambient air and process outlet. In the range above 10MBtu/(hr), air coolers can be economically competitive with water coolers when water of adequate quality is available in sufficient amount. 

The end-to-end seal is a very common operation in constructing glass equipment. The process is aided if the ends to be joined are smoothly broken or are evenly blown out and it is usually desirable to start with freshly broken or fire-cut pieces because this minimizes the chance of incorporating dirt into the joint. 

Formulate the Product I Flowsheet the Process Estimate the Cost. -" I Equip the Process Scale Up... 

Equip the Process. List the steps in the process and the equipment needed. Get to understand the equipment. 

In such equipment the process fluid flows through finned tubes and cooling air is blown across them with fans. Figures 8.4(h) and (i)... 

The wet granulation process is the traditional method of manufacture and is frequently used in the pharmaceutical industry. Expertise in wet granulation is widely available, as is the required equipment. The process improves flow and cohesion, reduces dust and crosscontamination, and permits the handling of powder blends without loss of homogeneity. 

As in most separation processes, thermodynamics play a key role in designing reactive distillation equipment. The process is governed, on the one hand, by the thermodynamic properties related to separation by distillation and on the other hand, by the equilibrium constants related to the reactions. 

This was carried out extensively in this country until 1940 when, owing to the scarcity of sulphur, it fell out of use and it is doubtful whether it has been revived to any great extent. It did, however, give an adequate bleach for lower quality goods, was extremely cheap, and only required simple equipment. The process was known as stoving because the wool was exposed to sulphur dioxide in what was called a stove. 

Statistics has an increasing role in the design of experiments and equipment. One first evaluates available information relative to proposed experiments or the equipment. The process being considered could be chemical reactions or reactors separation processes, including distillation, absorption, stripping, adsorption, etc. and heat exchangers, etc. 

Electrostatic Spray Method. Electrostatic spray can be used to apply thin or thick films. A thin film might be as low as 1 milli-inch (25 microns). Thick films might be applied as high as 0.1 inch (2.5 mm), though typically thick films are 40-60 milli-inches (1000-1500 microns). The equipment used is depicted in Fig. 8.12. A large number of manufacturers make this t5q)e of equipment. The process starts... 

A related problem is one of process transfer, where a process in production at one factory is transferred to another, using different equipment. The process... 

QUALIFICATION (of equipment) The process of determining that a device, apparatus or piece of manufacturing or control equipment meets all design and performance specifications, including boundary , worst case and power failure conditions. This is a necessary preliminary to process validation. 

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