Full product tests

The most reliable method of test as well as the most expensive, is to conduct a full production test. However, when testing, it is far better to test the entire filter— for example, a full press load of cloths on a plate and frame press, rather than one or two cloths, as these cloths might be doing the work of the others in the press, yielding no specific indication as to their actual capacity. The same situation applies to the disc filter where each sector of an entire disc should be covered, or even on the drum of a caulked-in fabric where the entire drum should be covered. 

Drawdown and build-up surveys are typically performed once a production well has been completed, to establish the reservoir property of permeability (k), the well completion efficiency as denoted by its skin factor (S), and the well productivity index (PI). Unless the routine production tests indicate some unexpected change in the well s productivity, only SBHP surveys may be run, say once a year. A full drawdown and build-up survey would be run to establish the cause of unexplained changes in the well s productivity. 

Pre-launch occurs after prototype testing and prior to full production. Additional inspections and tests may be needed until the production processes have been validated and process capability assured. The additional checks serve to contain nonconformities until variation has been brought within acceptable limits for production. 

It is the general consensus within the worldwide fire community that the only proper way to evaluate the fire safety of products is to conduct full-scale tests or complete fire-risk assessments. Most of these tests were extracted from procedures developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Because they are time tested, they are generally accepted methods to evaluate a given property. Where there were no universally accepted methods the UL developed its own. 

The Cone calorimeter yields smoke results which have been shown to correlate with those from full scale fires [10, 15-18]. The concept of a combined heat and smoke release measurement variable for small scale tests has been put into mathematical terms for the cone calorimeter smoke parameter (SmkPar) [10]. It is the product of the maximum rate of heat release and the average specific extinction area (a measure of smoke obscuration). The correlation between this smoke parameter and the smoke obscuration in full scale tests has been found to be excellent [10]. The corresponding equation is ... 

For many applications it is not possible to put a component into service to test its durability. Similarly, in product testing one cannot always simulate full service conditions in one test or things become too complicated - for example, time-dependent loading plus abrasion plus environmental ageing. Car tyres have a complicated pattern of cornering, sports surfaces are subject to the actions of different sports and pipes in the North Sea have almost unpredictable wave motions superimposed. No simulation test will reproduce service conditions perfectly, therefore, in accordance with Section 4.13, the test has to be restricted to the critical agents of degradation. 

After the evaluation of the performance of the different catalysts prepared in laboratory and pilot scale, a few candidates are selected for a full-scale test production. The main purpose is to demonstrate that the production steps shown in Fig. 8 are feasible for the new catalyst and that a uniform and satisfactory product quality can be achieved at an acceptable production rate in the existing production line. 

As discussed, the manufacture of suspensions presents additional problems, particularly in the area of uniformity. The development data should address the key compounding and filling steps that ensure uniformity. The protocol should provide for the key in-process and finished product tests, along with their specifications. For oral solutions, bioequivalency studies may not always be needed. However, oral suspensions, with the possible exception of some of the over-the-counter antacids, usually require a bioequivalency or clinical study to demonstrate their effectiveness. Comparison of product batches with the biobatch is an important part of the validation process. Make sure there are properly written protocol and process validation reports and, if appropriate, data for comparing full-scale batches with biobatch available during FDA inspection. 

The result can be methods which do not adequately fulfill their objectives in properly simulating service or are unnecessarily complex and unworkable within reasonable cost. Reproducability of rigs can be very bad. There is a world of difference between a rig for development purposes in one laboratory and multi laboratory product certification. If new methods are introduced which are ambiguously written or without full interlaboratory comparisons then problems and disputes are likely to follow. It can be concluded that it would be better to rely on material properties than on inadequate or ill-defined product tests but a well designed product test provides the best proof of fitness for purpose. 

Testing codes within the scenario of a fully developed fire are based on intermediate, large, or full-scale testing. Specimens are typically in the dimension of several square meters and often, real components such as building columns are tested, or the whole product in the case of gas bottles. Tests like the small-scale test furnace based on specimens of 500 mm x 500 mm are exceptions. Intensive flame application or the use of furnaces realizing standard time-temperature curves are used to simulate the characteristics of fully developed fires. Thus, in particular the heat impact of convection and the surface temperature are clearly greater than in the tests discussed earlier. The fire properties investigated are often resistance to fire, or the fire or temperature penetration. 

Naphthas with different initial and final boiling points were compared by pilot reactor testing. The pilot reactor unit consisted of isothermal, once-through reactors with on-line GCs for full product analysis and octane number determination. Octane numbers, reformate yields and composition as well as gas yields were measured as a function of reaction temperature at 16 bar reaction pressure and a molar Hj/HC ratio of 4.3. Catalyst deactivation was studied over two weeks periods at high severity conditions, i.e. 102.4 RON and a Hj/HC ratio of 2.2. Test results, with emphasis on the yields of benzene and other aromatics, reformate and hydrogen yields as well as catalyst deactivation, are presented. 

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