Small-scale products

In many cases faults will only restrict fluid flow, or they may be open i.e. non-sealing. Despite considerable efforts to predict the probability of fault sealing potential, a reliable method to do so has not yet emerged. Fault seal modelling is further complicated by the fact that some faults may leak fluids or pressures at a very small rate, thus effectively acting as seal on a production time scale of only a couple of years. As a result, the simulation of reservoir behaviour in densely faulted fields is difficult and predictions should be regarded as crude approximations only. 

Reflux Distillation Unit. The apparatus shown in Fig. 38 is a specially designed distillation-unit that can be used for boiling liquids under reflux, followed by distillation. The unit consists of a vertical water-condenser A, the top of which is fused to the side-arm condenser B. The flask C is attached by a cork to A. This apparatus is particularly suitable for the hydrolysis of esters (p. 99) and anilides (p. 109), on a small scale. For example an ester is heated under reflux with sodium hydroxide solution while water is passed through the vertical condenser water is then run out of the vertical condenser and passed through the inclined condenser. The rate of heating is increased and any volatile product will then distil over. 

Steam generator. For small scale work the steam generator D, Fig. 15, p. 33) is too cumbersome for the production of a small amount of steam. It is preferable to use a 250 ml. conical flask fitted with cork containing a vertical safety tube and an outlet-tube (Fig. 44). Care should be taken that the length of rubber tubing connecting the steam oudet tube to the flask containing the materi to be distilled should be as short as possible and should not contain kinks. 

The oxime is freely soluble in water and in most organic liquids. Recrystallise the crude dry product from a minimum of 60-80 petrol or (less suitably) cyclohexane for this purpose first determine approximately, by means of a small-scale test-tube experiment, the minimum proportion of the hot solvent required to dissolve the oxime from about 0-5 g. of the crude material. Then place the bulk of the crude product in a small (100 ml.) round-bottomed or conical flask fitted with a reflux water-condenser, add the required amount of the solvent and boil the mixture on a water-bath. Then turn out the gas, and quickly filter the hot mixture through a fluted filter-paper into a conical flask the sodium chloride remains on the filter, whilst the filtrate on cooling in ice-water deposits the acetoxime as colourless crystals. These, when filtered anddried (either by pressing between drying-paper or by placing in an atmospheric desiccator) have m.p. 60 . Acetoxime sublimes rather readily when exposed to the air, and rapidly when warmed or when placed in a vacuum. Hence the necessity for an atmospheric desiccator for drying purposes. 

Nitro derivatives. No general experimental details for the preparation of nitro derivatives can be given, as the ease of nitration and the product formed frequently depend upon the exact experimental conditions. Moreover, some organic compounds react violently so that nitrations should always be conducted on a small scale. The derivatives already described are usually more satisfactory for this reason the nitro derivatives have been omitted from Table IV,9. 

If a small-scale special apparatus is not available, proceed as follows Place 1-5 g. (1-9 ml.) of re-butyl alcohol and 0 28 g. of purified red phosphorus in a 25 ml. round-bottomed flask, and add 2-5 g. of io ne in 2 portions. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes, heat on a boiling water bath under reflux for 30 minutes, add 5 ml. of water and distil. Separate the lower layer of the distillate. Work up the product as described in 111,40. 

A small amount of particleboard is made with a fire-retardant treatment for use in locations where codes require this material, as in some offices and elevators. Particleboards receive overlay and finishing treatments with ease. Wood veneers, melamine overlays, printed paper overlays, vinyl overlays, foils, and direct grain printing can all be done quite simply. A small amount of particleboard is also made in the form of shaped, molded articles such as furniture parts, paper roU plugs, bmsh bases, and even toilet seats. There is another small increment of particleboard made by the extmsion process. These products are made in small captive operations owned by furniture manufacturers which consume all of this production in their furniture. The extmsion process differs from conventional flat-pressed particleboard in that the wood furnish is forced between two stationary heated surfaces. The mats are formed from one edge and this edge is alternately formed and pushed between the heated platens, which are maintained at a distance equal to the thickness of board produced. This is an old, slow, small-scale process, but is stiU in use in at least one location. 

Biopolymer Extraction. Research interests involving new techniques for separation of biochemicals from fermentation broth and cell culture media have increased as biotechnology has grown. Most separation methods are limited to small-scale appHcations but recendy solvent extraction has been studied as a potential technique for continuous and large-scale production and the use of two-phase aqueous systems has received increasing attention (259). A range of enzymes have favorable partition properties in a system based on a PGE—dextran—salt solution (97) ... 

Fine chemicals are generally considered chemicals that are manufactured to high and weU-defined standards of purity, as opposed to heavy chemicals made in large amounts to technical levels of purity. Fine chemicals usually are thought of as being produced on a small scale and the production of some fine chemicals is in tens or hundreds of kilograms per year. The production of others, especially fine chemicals used as dmgs or food additives (qv), is, however, in thousands of metric tons (see Pharmaceuticals). For example, the 1990 U.S. production of aspirin [50-78-2] and acetaminophen [103-90-2] was on the order of 20,500 t and 15,000 t, respectively. 

Commercially, the burner chamber and the absorber cooler sections are combined as a single unit for small-scale production. However, in large capacity plants, these units are separated. A typical commercial unit is schematically described in Figure 5 (32). 

Historically, SOG techniques have been used the most for IMD fabrication, but TEOS/o2one (TEOS/O ) processes are more recent developments that have been increasing in popularity based on excellent step coverage and void-free characteristics. TEOS/O doped with boron and phosphoms (BPTEOS/O ) has replaced BPSG in small-scale devices, and has been used successfully in 4- and 16-Mb DRAM production (16). 

The advent of a large international trade in methanol as a chemical feedstock has prompted additional purchase specifications, depending on the end user. Chlorides, which would be potential contaminants from seawater during ocean transport, are common downstream catalyst poisons likely to be excluded. Limitations on iron and sulfur can similarly be expected. Some users are sensitive to specific by-products for a variety of reasons. Eor example, alkaline compounds neutralize MTBE catalysts, and ethanol causes objectionable propionic acid formation in the carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid. Very high purity methanol is available from reagent vendors for small-scale electronic and pharmaceutical appHcations. 

Phosphoms(V) sulfide, an important commodity in the United States since about 1920, is the dominant commercial material. Phosphoms sesquisulfide, P4S2, has been made commercially since about 1900. Phosphoms heptasulfide was introduced as a small-scale commercial product in 1940. 

These "experimental" formulations derived in the foregoing examples are only meant to be the starting formulations and must be fine-tuned based on small scale laboratory experiments before use in plant production. 

Process probably not competitive for small-scale operations (>10 20 t/d product gas). 

---