Typology of production processes

The production of intermediate chemicals requires more manifold types of production processes. Similar to the production of basic chemicals, chemical reactions are typically accompanied by separation processes such that most of these reactions can be categorized as SIMO or MIMO processes. Because intermediate chemicals are required for the production of final chemical products in huge quantities, they are usually produced by continuously operated plants. Typically, the production plants are specialized to perform a specific reaction and, hence, are single-purpose plants. 

Final chemical products are typically produced on multi-purpose plants which are designed for a specific product family. Such production processes are usually convergent. The composition of raw materials to produce a final chemical is called a recipe. Multipurpose plants are capable to handle multiple recipes, i.e. reactants and products handled vary in both type and quantity. These processes can be mainly categorized as MISO or MIMO processes. 

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