Process Scaleup and Design. Dr. Gary Benjamin Tatterson

PROCESS SCALEUP AND DESIGN is an engineering text that can be easily understood by non-engineers, particularly business people. This book can be descibed by the various topics that are discussed. Chapter 1 introduces scaleup and process design. Process needs, objectives and design levels are discussed. The KIS principle, design accuracy and uncertainty are reviewed. The discussion on equipment selections includes human factors, performance, testing, solids handling, process physics, scalability, robustness and nimbleness. Four methods for scaleup are given and include repeating designs, regular design methods and rules of thumb. Chapter 2 introduces and develops a systematic method for scaleup. Needs matching, process similarity, geometric similarity and the important scaleup ratio are descibed. A simple process, energy and geometry are reviewed. The General Scaleup Method is developed and used in six or so examples. The impact of process objectives and physics are illustrated. Plant acceptance is an important issue. Different outcomes of the General Scaleup Method are given. Chapter 3 discusses scaleup difficulties. These include unknown physics and chemistry, no direct control situations and changes in surface to volume ratios. Discussions of geometric similarity, need matching and needs balancing finish the chapter. Chapter 4 presents concepts of process environments and unpredictability. Examples of different environments are given. Sources of unpredictaiblity are presented and include material properties, solids problems, startup and operational unpredictabilities, flow regimes, surprises in operations and equipment. Methods for handling different environments and unpredictability are furnished. Chapter 5 provides information concerning process options and tricks. Beginning suggestions for operations are provided by reviewing the implications of physical laws. Examples include mixing time relationships and Darcy's Law for filtration. Process options include organization of material, feeding, pretreatments, recycle, post treatments, geometry and equipment selections. Chapter 6 describes pilot plant use, economics, history and safety. Approaches and reasons for pilot plants are given. Economic issues are presented. The Rush to Market concept is discussed and safety considerations are given.