Pilot project complexity

Since the 1980s, two studies of solvent fermentation at the pilot-plant scale have been reported. A pilot project was started in Soustons, France, to evaluate the commercial potential of producing solvents for gasoline-substitute fuels. It was designed to use mainly hydrolysates of cereal straw and com stover as the substrates. The raw materials were pretreated by steam explosion and then hydrolyzed by Trichoderma cellulase complex to yield fermentable substrates, and the aim was to produce 1 t of solvents from 6 to 7 t of raw materials (Nativel et al. 1992 Nimcevic and Gapes 2000). Batch fermentations using strains of C. acetobutylicum were performed at 2-m and 50-m scales. Yields of 1 t of solvents from 7.7 t of corn cobs were reported. 

Successful installation, or roll-out, of your PSM systems requires sound planning and effective execution. No matter how diligent you have been, or how receptive and well-managed your company may be, no system as complex as PSM can work perfectly the first time. As every project manager knows, it s impossible to anticipate every outcome or contingency—especially when human behavior is involved. Pilot testing a new system provides the opportunity to identify weaknesses under controlled conditions this in turn enables you to fix problems before the system becomes fully operational. Once these problems are corrected, the pilot test produces a template for installation that can be replicated elsewhere. 

Seacoke A process for making tar and coke by carbonizing mixtures of coal and petroleum residuum. The tar would be used in an oil refinery and the coke would be used for generating electricity. The process was sponsored by the U.S. Office of Coal Research 1964-1969 the work was carried out by EMC Corporation, Atlantic Richfield Company, and Blaw-Knox Company. Results from the pilot plant were encouraging but the project was abandoned because the benefits were judged insufficient to justify the complexity. 

In the above-described pChemTec project, a combination of miniplant and micro structured reactor plant equipment is used for the organoborane synthesis as an example for a future production facility for fine chemicals. This approach differs from the usual application of a miniplant as a mediator between laboratory-scale and pilot plant-scale operation. The microstructured reactor plant shown in Figure 4.47, a combination with a typical miniplant set-up, exhibits greater complexity than the miniplant but it nevertheless consumes a much smaller proportion of the volume of the plant set-up. 

Results from the pilot plant were encouraging, but the project was abandoned because the benefits were judged insufficient to justify the complexity. 

Because of the apparent low concentration of the active component(s) in the brassins complex, it was necessary to plan for the extraction of a large quantity of rape pollen. Honeybee-collected rape pollen was available from Canada since pollen is used in specialty-type natural food products, for example baked goods. Arrangements were made (not without some difficulty) to obtain a large lot (over 1/4 ton ) of rape pollen from Canada for a pilot plant-scale extraction at ERRC. Earlier work by Mandava et al. (16) was the basis for the pilot plant extraction procedure that was developed and used (21). Contributors to the project, in addition to M. Kozempel and N. Mandava, were H. Kenney of ERRC J.F. Worley, D. Matthees, J.D. Warthen, Jr., M. Jacobson and G.L. Steffens of BARC and M.D. Grove, NRRC. 

As a project for manufacturing a new or existing chemical by a new process progresses from laboratory research through pilot-plant development to a decision for plant construction, a number of process-design studies of increasing complexity may be made, accompanied at each step by capital-cost estimates of increasing levels of accuracy as follows ... 

ABSTRACT In this publication the authors presented a proposal to use fuzzy expert systems in crew escape onboard pilot decision making systems. The subject of research is to ensure the ability of those systems to adapt to changing environmental conditions and, in consequence, their reliable operation (support and ensure pilots safety. The authors use fuzzy logic to present advanced work in this field. The development of fuzzy expert aircraft onboard pilot decision making system assistant projects used by a pilot in emergency situations is referred to in the study. One of the projects was presented in the publication. It has been developed on the basis of Matlab Fuzzy Logic Toolbox and Simulink software. Complexity of the problem cause imposed restrictions. This publication is an integral part of the author s scientific researches. 

We have selected a few safety development projects as pilot for using and verifying the developed SLCM. In selecting the safety development projects we considered the development complexity, project team size, competence of the project team regarding functional safety and application domains. The following table outlines our major findings. 

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