Process Development: From the Initial Idea to the Chemical Production Plant

There is a long way to go between the original idea and the final chemical production plant. Almost nothing else is as complex as the manufacture of chemical products.
This book presents all the different aspects, including those that are maybe only touched upon or not even covered at all as part of a course in natural sciences, such as economic factors, patents and licensing, site requirements and problems of waste disposal.
Nor does the author limit himself to mere references to further reading: many of the facts are reiterated and placed in the relevant context, while formulas are briefly derived, often saving a walk to the library or searching in other texts. He thus helps those working in R&D as well as plant managers to avoid pitfalls, while also conveying the required degree of safety.
The result is a volume equally suited for those entering the sector as well as for scientists already working at a plant. It forms a common basis for engineers and chemists, representing a ready reference that should always be within arm′s reach.

Spis treści:
1 Introduction.
1.1 The Goal of Industrial Research and Development.
1.2 The Production Structure of the Chemical Industry.
1.3 The Task of Process Development.
1.4 Creative Thinking.
2 The Chemical Production Plant and its Components.
2.1 The Catalyst.
2.2 The Reactor.
2.3 Product Processing (Thermal and Mechanical Separation Processes).
2.4 Pipelines, Pumps, and Compressors.
2.5 Energy Supply.
2.6 Product Supply and Storage.
2.7 Waste Disposal [Rothert 1992].
2.8 Measurement and Control Technology.
2.9 Plant Safety.
2.10 Materials Selection.
3 Process Data.
3.1 Chemical Data.
3.2 Mass Balance.
3.3 Physicochemical Data.
3.4 Processing.
3.5 Patenting and Licensing Situation.
3.6 Development Costs.
3.7 Location.
3.8 Market Situation.
3.9 Raw Materials.
3.10 Plant Capacity.
3.11 Waste–Disposal Situation.
3.12 End Product.
4 Course of Process Development.
4.1 Process Development as an Iterative Process.
4.2 Drawing up an Initial Version of the Process.
4.3. Checking the Individual Steps.
4.4 The Microplant: The Link between the Laboratory and the Pilot Plant.
4.5 Testing the Entire Process on a Small Scale.
5 Planning, Erection, and Start–Up of a Chemical Plant.
5.1 General Course of Project Execution.
5.2 Important Aspects of Project Execution.
5.3 Commissioning.
5.4 Start–Up.
6 Process Evaluation.
6.1 Preparation of Study Reports.
6.2 Return on Investment.
6.3 Economic Risk.
7 Trends in Process Development.
8 Appendix.
8.1 Mathematical formulas.
8.2 Constants.
8.3 List of elements with relative atomic masses bonding radius and melting and boiling points.
8.4 Conversion of various units to SI units.
8.5 Relationships between derived and base units.
8.6 Conversion of concentrations for binary mixtures of dissolved component A in solvent B.
8.7 van der Waals constants a and b and critical values for some gases.
8.8 Heat capacities of some substances and their temperature dependance.
8.9 Thermodynamic data of selected organic compounds.
8.10 Order of magnitude of the reaction enthalpy —RH for selected industrial reactions [Weissermel 1994].
8.11 Antoine parameters of selected organic compounds.
8.12 Properties of water.
8.13 Properties of dry air (molar mass: M= 28.966 g mol<sup>–1</sup>).
8.14 Dimensionless characteristic numbers.
8.15 Important German regulations for handling of substances.
8.16 Hazard and safety warnings.
8.17 The 25 largest companies of the world in 2000.
8.18 The 25 largest companies in Germany in 2000.
8.19 Surface analysis methods.
9 References.
Subject Index.

Nota biograficzna:
Born in 1951 near Gross–Gerau, Germany, G. Herbert Vogel served an apprenticeship at Rohm & Haas before going on to study chemical engineering at Darmstadt Polytechnic and chemistry at Darmstadt Technical University, where he obtained his doctorate in 1982 in physical chemistry under Alarich Weiss. Between 1982 and 1993 he was employed at BASF AG in Ludwigshafen, working on the development, planning, construction and installation of petrochemical production plants. In 1993, he succeeded Fritz Fetting as Professor for Chemical Engineering at Darmstadt TU. His research interests are heterogeneous catalysis, chemistry under supercritical conditions and renewable primary products.

Okładka tylna:
There is a long way to go between the original idea and the final chemical production plant. Almost nothing else is as complex as the manufacture of chemical products.
This book presents all the different aspects, including those that are maybe only touched upon or not even covered at all as part of a course in natural sciences, such as economic factors, patents and licensing, site requirements and problems of waste disposal.
Nor does the author limit himself to mere references to further reading: many of the facts are reiterated and placed in the relevant context, while formulas are briefly derived, often saving a walk to the library or searching in other texts. He thus helps those working in R&D as well as plant managers to avoid pitfalls, while also conveying the required degree of safety.
The result is a volume equally suited for those entering the sector as well as for scientists already working at a plant. It forms a common basis for engineers and chemists, representing a ready reference that should always be within arm′s reach.