Process intensification features

Stankiewicz and Moulijn extend the definition of process intensification from size reduction of apparatus to dramatic improvements in key features of chemical processing [25]. Substantial decreases in the following process-engineering properties are listed ... 

With this understanding of cascade reactions for the purpose of process intensification, we now turn out attention to the relatively few literature examples that exhibit these features. 

Of course, apart from these general features every process is unique and requires an individual investigation and definition of the cost drivers before one can start a process intensification study. This will be discussed in more detail in the next section. 

Elaborate descriptions of process intensification will be found elsewhere in this book. Here a short description suffices, followed by an assessment on its potential to contribute to sustainable development, based on present industrial cases and general features. 

The present book reviews recent developments in modeling of process intensification. It is divided into eleven chapters. After an introduction and overview, Robert Franke from Degussa AG describes in Chapter 2 the efforts on PI from an industrial point of view in their project house . A special feature is the use... 

Figure 11.21 illustrates the principle of this new concept. Its major positive features include the realization of notable system simplification and process intensification thermal losses significantly reduced and cooling and heating steps avoided increased activity of catalysts and sorbents abatement of particulates and tar in the gasifier outlet. In all, a combination of the benefits of traditional primary and secondary hot gas treatments without... 

Given the very significant advances indicated previously on individual small-scale structured devices on the laboratory scale, the major challenge facing the chemical industry in order to perform sustainable process intensification is not the further development of individual locally structured units but rather the effective integration of those units into complete production systems, exhibiting the required multi-scale features described above. 

One of the features of intensified process plant is the opportunity offered to combine a number of unit operations in a way that is not possible, or at best difficult, with conventional process equipment. The HEX-reactor discussed above is an example, where heat removal or addition is fully integrated with reaction(s) in a single package . It should be noted that a combination of unit operations usually represents process intensification in itself, regardless of the technology used, as significant overall redactions in capital cost, equipment size, etc., can be achieved. 

The feature of traumatized animal cornea treated by CMS was almost normal recovery of most of the peripheral zone structure, which demonstrated the intensification of regeneration processes. Anisomorphy of epithelial regenerate was evidently expressed in the vertical state its surface was smooth. Collagenic fibers and their fascicles were arranged in order cornea itself was without chemosis. Newly formed tissue structure of central trauma sites was less differentiated than that of peripheral ones. In this case, epithelium and regenerated cornea itself (in comparison to control) had a more regulated stmcture. 

Pressure intensification is an innovative feature of this process and is displayed in Fig. 3.3. During the study of reactions in solvents composed on an organic component plus comparable volumes of co-solvent CO2, it was found that adding substantial CO2 pressure (45 bar) provided no improvement in conversion and yield. However, use of 45 bar of N2 gas resulted in an increase from about 80% conversion, to essentially total substrate conversion, with excellent selectivity, in less than 2 h. The pressure of the low solubility gas N2 improved the transport of propylene gas into the liquid phase and resulted in higher productivity with small waste and energy debits. 

High concentrations of ethanol inhibit the fermentation process, ptirticularly when a fermentative medium with high suhstrate concentration is used, as is the case in the majority of the industrial processes. Considering this, Silva et al. [1] studied a process of fermentation combined with a flash vessel, which selectively extracts ethanol firom the medium as soon as it is produced. These authors have shown that this scheme presents many positive features and better performance than conventional industrial processes [2]. Cardona and Sanchez [3] point out that the reaction-separation integration is a particularly attractive alternative for the intensification of bioethanol production. When bioethanol is removed fiom the culture broth, its inhibition effect on the growth rate is diminished or neutralized. However, the performance of the whole process is significantly influenced by separation unit, and that means that thermod)mamic knowledge of the mixture is required. 

Thermal catalytic decomposition of H2S to hydrogen and sulphur is a good candidate for application of a membrane reactor. The expected significant process simplification and intensification would capitalize on a new industrial paradigm offered by membrane reactors that allows combining reaction and separation in one step. A common feature of all catalytic membrane reactors having a hydrogen... 

Thus, studies show that thermooxidative transformation of copolymers VA and DMB associated with oxidative reactions of methene groups, as well as the collapse of the VA and DMB - links to difficult - etheric relations. A distinctive feature of the thermooxidative processes is their intensification with the increase of the content of DMB in copolymer. 

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