Pilot plants maintenance

Maintenance in a pilot plant often seems too insignificant or transitory to warrant organized attention. The reality is quite different. Few pilot plants operate for so short a time to require no maintenance. Annual maintenance costs are usually best expressed as a percentage of construction costs and vary widely due to differences in accounting practices and maintenance policies. In general, pilot plant maintenance costs can be estimated based on the technology and run length ... 

Product innovation absorbs considerable resources in the fine chemicals industry, in part because of the shorter life cycles of fine chemicals as compared to commodities. Consequently, research and development (R D) plays an important role. The main task of R D in fine chemicals is scaling-up lab processes, as described, eg, in the ORAC data bank or as provided by the customers, so that the processes can be transferred to pilot plants (see Pilot PLANTS AND microplants) and subsequently to industrial-scale production. Thus the R D department of a fine chemicals manufacturer typically is divided into a laboratory or process research section and a development section, the latter absorbing the Hon s share of the R D budget, which typically accounts for 5 to 10% of sales. Support functions include the analytical services, engineering, maintenance, and Hbrary. 

Three types of computer control systems are commonly used for pilot-plant instmmentation. The first is a centralized system, usually based on a minicomputer or occasionally a mainframe. These systems have large storage capacities, substantial memories, and much associated equipment. They typically control all the pilot plants in an area or faciUty. Centralized systems are economical if a large number of units are involved but are becoming less common due to their high installation and maintenance costs as well as the limitation that any failure of the central system shuts down all pilot plants involved. 

Stand-alone computer systems, usually based on a personal computer (PC) or programmable logic controller (PLC), provide a separate computer system for each pilot plant. This allows for economical expansion for new units, separates pilot plants completely for maintenance and troubleshooting, and often has the lowest initial cost. Standardization can be a problem and software control, data gathering, and storage packages can be limited in size, scope, and capabiUty these are usually acceptable trade-offs. 

The maintenance of analytical instmmentation requkes trained personnel and is a time-consuming task (39,40). An additional problem is the necessity of frequentiy checking the caUbration of the analysis instmmentation and recahbrating if requked. Stand-alone data gathering instmmentation, once common in pilot plants, has been vktuaHy replaced in all but the simplest pilot plants by a data gathering computer, usually used for process control as well. 

Pilot plants are often more hazardous than process plants, even though they are smaller ia size, for many reasons. These iaclude a tendency to relax standard safety review procedures based on the small scale, exceptionally qualified personnel iavolved, and the experimental nature of the research operations the lack of estabhshed operational practice and experience lack of information regarding new materials or processes and lack of effective automatic iatedocks due to the frequendy changing nature of pilot-plant operations, the desire for wide latitude in operating conditions, and the lack of hill-time maintenance personnel. 

The objective of the present study is to develop a cross-flow filtration module operated under low transmembrane pressure drop that can result in high permeate flux, and also to demonstrate the efficient use of such a module to continuously separate wax from ultrafine iron catalyst particles from simulated FTS catalyst/ wax slurry products from an SBCR pilot plant unit. An important goal of this research was to monitor and record cross-flow flux measurements over a longterm time-on-stream (TOS) period (500+ h). Two types (active and passive) of permeate flux maintenance procedures were developed and tested during this study. Depending on the efficiency of different flux maintenance or filter media cleaning procedures employed over the long-term test to stabilize the flux over time, the most efficient procedure can be selected for further development and cost optimization. The effect of mono-olefins and aliphatic alcohols on permeate flux and on the efficiency of the filter membrane for catalyst/wax separation was also studied. 

An example in this case is the pilot plant, which can report to either R D or manufacturing. The fact that there are more—and more demanding— technology transfers from laboratory to pilot plant than from pilot plant to industrial scale speaks in favor of the first option. The fact that both the pilot and industrial plants use the same site infrastructure (utilities, maintenance, internal transports, etc.) favors the subordination to manufacturing. An authoritarian decision by the CEO can avoid a lot of wasted time in such situations. 

Design+ + - [EXPERT SYSTEMS] (Vol 9) -of equipment [COMPUTER-AIDED ENGINEERING (CAE)] (Vol 7) -of pilot plants [PILOT PLANTS] (Vol 19) -regarding maintenance [MAINTENANCE] (Vol 15)... 

Maintenance of Proper Antimony Concentration. Close monitoring of the antimony concentration on the catalyst will assure that maximum benefits are derived from a metals passivation program. The antimony-to-nickel ratio on the equilibrium catalyst has been correlated with hydrogen production in commercial operations (Figure 5), The non-linear shape of the hydrogen production curve has been confirmed in pilot plant tests (Figure 1), The recommended antimony concentration corresponds to a point beyond the breakpoint of the curve, A "cushion" is desired to allow fluctuations in the system without major increases in the yields of hydrogen and coke. 

Bench scale Pilot plant Biobatch Scale batches Commercial size Continuous improvement Process optimization Repairs and maintenance... 

Changing facilities operations Change/locker rooms and showers contiguous with work area for production, maintenance, service and personnel decontamination for production and pilot plant-scale operation (e.g., greater than 5 kg powder or 100 L liquid). Access to change/locker space and showers required for kilo and small-scale operations (e.g., less than production and pilot plant scale)... 

Maintenance is a vital component of all pilot plant and plant manufacturing operations. Any organization that strives to meet deadlines for the preparation of clinical supplies and commercial APIs requires a plant that ideally does not break down. To achieve this, all responsible managements require a strong, well-staffed maintenance department that has the trained manpower, budget, spare parts, mission, and organization to keep the plant operating. 

At this stage, a tentative selection of at least two alternative size enlargement methods can be made. These initial selections can then be refined with the help of laboratory and/or pilot plant tests. Most vendors (see Appendix, p. 177) have pilot equipment available on a rental basis and are prepared to assist with test runs and technical advice. A final process selection can then be made taking into account the normal considerations of reliability, flexibility, ease of maintenance and minimum overall cost at the required throughput. 

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