Process development unit

Process development unit (PDU) results with unspecified hardwood. 

Review of coal Hquefaction research may be found ia References 1—3. Hereia, those processiag schemes for coal Hquefactioa that, siace the 1970s, have received atteatioa beyoad the laboratory to pilot plants or process development units are presented. 

Fault Tree Analysis Report for CoaF Coal Gasitication Failure rales (per year basts) for over 400 events Coal-gasification Process Development unit 50. 

Gasification Process-Development Unit from fault trees Unavailability data systems and components ... 

DATA BOUNDARY Coal-gasification Process Development unit systems and... 

In this study detailed fault trees with probability and failure rate calculations were generated for the events (1) Fatality due to Explosion, Fire, Toxic Release or Asphyxiation at the Process Development Unit (PDU) Coal Gasification Process and (2) Loss of Availability of the PDU. The fault trees for the PDU were synthesized by Design Sciences, Inc., and then subjected to multiple reviews by Combustion Engineering. The steps involved in hazard identification and evaluation, fault tree generation, probability assessment, and design alteration are presented in the main body of this report. The fault trees, cut sets, failure rate data and unavailability calculations are included as attachments to this report. Although both safety and reliability trees have been constructed for the PDU, the verification and analysis of these trees were not completed as a result of the curtailment of the demonstration plant project. Certain items not completed for the PDU risk and reliability assessment are listed. 

II operation of a larger scale process development unit 90... 

Figure 5. Gas holdup (e0) and incremental bed porosity (eLO — eL) vs. superficial gas velocity with process development unit (PDU)...

In thermal processes the formation of asphaltols always precedes other reactions such as major heteroatom rejection and distillate formation. In fact, in the SRC process bituminous coals are actually dissolved by the time the coal slurry exits the preheater (4,11). This has recently been demonstrated at the SRC process development unit (PDU) in Wilsonville, Alabama (11) (see Figure 2). 

The continuing search for technical and economic improvements in the coal gasification areas has provided incentives to develop newer process concepts starting in 1979. The Joint Program for 1979 includes processes in the Process Development Unit (PDU) stage of development which promise technical and/or economic improvements. Gasification processes included in the 1979 program are ... 

Set-up for Ethylene Glycol Lignin Production. A process development unit (PDU), previously described by Chornet and co-workers (11), was used for the experiments. A typical preparation consists of initially mixing 1-1.2 kg of wood meal with 10 1 of ethylene glycol. The mixture is allowed to stand overnight for imbibition to take place. To enhance solvent to substrate penetration, the slurry is homogenized at 200°C in the pretreatment section of the PDU. It is then pumped through the treatment section which consists of a tubular reactor at 220°C. The product slurry is collected in a receiver. The detailed procedure and choice of conditions above have been published elsewhere (11,12). 

A proper laboratory or process development unit (PDU) is required if there is a lack of information on the reaction mechanism, kinetics, and the reactor hydrodynamics, especially for a new reaction system (Dutta and Gualy, 2000). In laboratory experiments, certain aspects of the process are investigated by handling small amounts of raw materials to reduce the material constraints to a minimum. In these experiments, all mechanisms that do not depend on size, such as thermodynamics and chemical kinetics, can be illuminated (Trambouze, 1990). 

Catalytic alkylation process developed, uniting benzene directly with dilute ethylene in refinery gases (1958)... 

The pilot-production phase may be carried out either as a shared responsibility between the development laboratories and its appropriate manufacturing counterpart or as a process demonstration by a separate, designated pilot-plant or process-development function. The two organization piloting options are presented separately in Figure 1. The creation of a separate pilot-plant or process-development unit has been favored in recent years because it is ideally suited to carry out process scale-up and/or validation assignments in a timely manner. On the other hand, the joint pilot-operation option provides direct communication between the development laboratory and pharmaceutical production. 

Although the process requires the treated gas to have a certain minimum carbon dioxide partial pressure for removal of sulfurous compounds with liquid carbon dioxide, promising new SNG processes under development produce medium to high carbon dioxide content crude gases ideally suited for acid gas removal via the CNG process (12,13). The novel features of the CNG process have been demonstrated with bench-scale process development units second generation process development units are in various stages of... 

At Clariant, for instance, we focus on increasing time yield and efficiency per employee by systematically analyzing throughput time variances and optimizing production processes continuously. Here, a globally operating rapid process development unit comprised of experienced senior technologists is key for success. 

Two projects were announced in the late 1990 s to develop the ITM Process and another related technology. Air Products will lead an 8V2-year, US 90 million research project that is supposed to culminate in the construction of a 500 million SCFD Process Development Unit in 2005. Members of the team include McDermott, Ceramatec, Eltron Research, Battelle, Penn State University, ChevronTexaco, Norsk Hydro, University of Alaska - Fairbanks and the University of Pennsylvania. 

Equipment. In designing the apparatus to be used for the hydro-treating and hydrocracking of SRC, heavy reliance was placed on the petroleum-processing experience in the Houdry Division of Air Products. A continuous process development unit was designed and constructed to catalytically hydroprocess nominally 1 L/hr of SRC liquid. A simplified flowsheet of the unit appears in Figure 1. 

Figure 1. Simplified diagram of coal process development unit...

Integrated Testing. Although the individual steps of the process have been demonstrated in laboratory experiments, testing of the entire system is necessary in order to proceed along the path to commercialization. The integrated testing is currently planned to be comprised of three sequential steps, i.e., the laboratory model, the process development unit (PDU), and the "pilot-scale" unit. 

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