Process Models Can Reduce Pilot Planting
Chemical & Engineering News · 1962
141ST ACS NATIONAL MEETING Petroleum Chemistry American Oil, in searching for new techniques to shorten process development time and to reduce the high costs of collecting empirical data, has turned to the process model as one approach. The company has used the process model to develop an optimized process for liquid phase isomerization of pentanes and hexanes, says it minimizes the need for pilot plant experiments. According to R. E. Dudley and J. B. Malloy of American's R&D department, developing an optimized process with minimum cost is especially difficult in the petroleum industry because of complex feeds and reaction kinetics. A typical development project involves extensive pilot plant tests based on empirical programing and interpretation of results. Statistical design of experiments has been found useful in improving efficiency, but it doesn't tackle the basic problem of complex kinetics. A process model, based on a few controlling reactions, was developed to study ...