Laboratory Scale (laboratory + scale)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Chemistry


Selected Abstracts


Soil detachment and transport on field- and laboratory-scale interrill areas: erosion processes and the size-selectivity of eroded sediment

EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 8 2006
O. Malam Issa
Abstract Field- and laboratory-scale rainfall simulation experiments were carried out in an investigation of the temporal variability of erosion processes on interrill areas, and the effects of such variation upon sediment size characteristics. Poorly aggregated sandy soils from the semi-arid environment of Senegal, West Africa, were used on both a 40 m2 field plot and a 0·25 m2 laboratory plot; rainfall intensity for all experiments was 70 mm h,1 with a duration of 1 to 2 hours. Time-series measurements were made of the quantity and the size distribution of eroded material: these permitted an estimate of the changing temporal balance between the main erosion processes (splash and wash). Results from both spatial scales showed a similar temporal pattern of runoff generation and sediment concentration. For both spatial scales, the dominant erosional process was detachment by raindrops; this resulted in a dynamic evolution of the soil surface under raindrop impact, with the rapid formation of a sieving crust followed by an erosion crust. However, a clear difference was observed between the two scales regarding the size of particles detached by both splash and wash. While all measured values were lower than the mean weight diameter (MWD) value of the original soil (mean 0·32 mm), demonstrating the size-selective nature of wash and splash processes, the MWD values of washed and splashed particles at the field scale ranged from 0·08 to 0·16 mm and from 0·12 to 0·30 mm respectively, whereas the MWD values of washed and splashed particles at the laboratory scale ranged from 0·13 to 0·29 mm and from 0·21 to 0·32 mm respectively. Thus only at the field scale were the soil particles detached by splash notably coarser than those transported by wash. This suggests a transport-limited erosion process at the field scale. Differences were also observed between the dynamics of the soil loss by wash at the two scales, since results showed wider scatter in the field compared to the laboratory experiments. This scatter is probably related to the change in soil surface characteristics due to the size-selectivity of the erosion processes at this spatial scale. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Acephate, methamidophos and monocrotophos residues in a laboratory-scale oil refining process

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF LIPID SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Chee Beng Yeoh
Abstract Acephate, methamidophos and monocrotophos are insecticides used in oil palm plantations for the control of bagworms and leaf-eating caterpillars. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether the physical refining process at laboratory scale, which simulated the manufacturing process, could remove the residues of these three insecticides in crude palm oil, in the unlikely event that crude palm oil were contaminated with these organophosphorus insecticides. A series of crude palm oil samples spiked with low (0.1,µg/g) and high (1.0,µg/g) levels of these insecticides were subjected to a laboratory-scale physical oil refining process. Oil samples drawn at various stages of the refining process, namely, degumming, bleaching and deodorization, were analyzed using an in-house analytical method. The results obtained from these experiments suggest that the physical refining process is capable of effectively removing residual insecticides from crude palm oil. The final product of crude palm oil refining, the refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil, was found to have no detectable levels of acephate, methamidophos and monocrotophos. [source]


From Micro to Meso: an exercise in determining hydraulic conductivity of fractured sandstone cores from detailed characterization of the fractures

GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2006
Salima Baraka-Lokmane
SUMMARY Hydraulic conductivities of fractured sandstone bore cores of 0.1 m in diameter are calculated using detailed characterization of the fracture geometry parameters determined using a resin casting technique. The accuracy of the measurements was about 0.25,1.25 ,m with the image size used. The values of the effective fracture apertures vary between 10 ,m and 50 ,m. For modelling purposes the samples are sectioned serially, perpendicular to the flow direction along the cylinder axis. The hydraulic conductivity of individual slices is estimated by summing the contribution of the matrix (assumed uniform) and each fracture (depending on its length and aperture). Finally, the hydraulic conductivity of the bulk sample is estimated by a harmonic average in series along the flow path. Results of this geometrical upscaling compare favourably with actual conductivity measured in hydraulic and pneumatic experiments carried out prior to sectioning. This study shows that the determination of larger-scale conductivity can be achieved, based on the evaluation of fracture geometry parameters (e.g. fracture aperture, fracture width and fracture length), measured using an optical method, at least at the laboratory scale. [source]


Development and evaluation of a laboratory scale conch for chocolate production

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Andrea Bordin Schumacher
Summary In this study a laboratory scale conch was developed with the purpose of testing new formulations using small amounts of chocolate mass. The equipment was built with working parts of others machines and the chocolate manufactured with the conch was evaluated in relation to the viscosity, moisture, acidity and polyphenol concentration. The resulting chocolate was tempered and then evaluated by a sensory panel. The results were always compared with an industrial conching process. The material used in the assays was dark chocolate (40% cocoa). Data were submitted to variance analysis (anova) and when there was significant difference among the averages, the Tukey's test was applied. It was verified that the reduction of moisture and viscosity of the mass in the laboratory scale was similar to industrial scale. The parameters acidity and polyphenols showed no significant alterations when comparing both process scales. However, in the sensory analysis a flavour difference between the processing scales was perceptible. [source]


Stationary-phase acid and heat treatments for improvement of the viability of probiotic lactobacilli and bifidobacteria

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2004
M. Saarela
Abstract Aims:, To investigate whether sublethal treatments of stationary-phase probiotic cultures enhance their survival during lethal treatments and to adapt these treatments to the fermenter-scale production of probiotic cultures. Methods and Results:, Conditions for acid and heat pretreatments were screened for three Lactobacillus and two Bifidobacterium strains. Strains were sublethally treated both at laboratory scale and at fermenter scale in a strain-specific manner and exposed to a subsequent lethal treatment. At laboratory scale viability improvement was detected in each strain. However, improvement was more pronounced in the Lactobacillus than in the Bifidobacterium strains. At fermenter scale three strains were tested: for the two Lactobacillus strains a marked improvement in viability was obtained whereas for the Bifidobacterium strain the improvement was either minor or not detected. Conclusions:, Development of treatments for viability enhancement of probiotic strains is feasible, but strain-specific optimization is necessary to obtain notable improvements. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Strain-specific treatments were developed for the viability enhancement of stationary-phase probiotic cells both at laboratory and fermenter scale. These results can be utilised in the production of probiotic cultures with improved viability. [source]


Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast populations in a cold region in Argentinean Patagonia.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002
A study at different fermentation scales
Aims: To study the diversity and dynamics of indigenous Saccharomyces wine populations during Malbec spontaneous fermentation, a representative Patagonian red wine, at both industrial and laboratory scale. Methods and Results: Two molecular techniques, including restriction fragment length polymorphism of mitochondrial (mt) DNA and polymorphism of amplified , interspersed element sequences, were used for characterization of indigenous yeasts at strain level. The mtDNA restriction patterns showed the major discriminative power; however, by combining the two molecular approaches it was possible to distinguish a larger number of strains and, therefore, draw more representative conclusions about yeast diversity. Although a great diversity of wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains was observed, only nine represented more than half of the total Saccharomyces yeast biota analysed; five of these were common and took over the Malbec must fermentation in both vinifications. Conclusions: Many different indigenous S. cerevisiae strains were identified; nevertheless, the dominant strains in both industrial and laboratory vinification processes were just a few and the same. Significance and Impact of the Study: Small-scale fermentation appears to be a valuable tool in winemaking, one especially helpful in evaluating microbiological aspects of as well as possible interactions between inoculated selected strains and native strains. [source]


Quality and Functional Characteristics of Chungkukjang Prepared with Various Bacillus sp.

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 4 2005
Isolated from Traditional Chungkukjang
ABSTRACT: Bacillus circulans, Brevibacillus brevis, B. licheniformis, B. coagulans, B. subtilis, and B. sterothermophillus were isolated and identified from chungkukjangs (Korean traditional soybean paste fermented for a few day). Chungkukjang was prepared on a laboratory scale with soybeans and the isolated strains. Characteristics of the chungkukjangs including slime material content, free amino acid content, sensory qualities, and antimutagenicity were determined. The content of slime material, which is an important indicator of the quality of chungkukjang, was highest in B. licheniformis -inoculated chungkukjang, andlowestin B. sterothermophillus -inoculated chungkukjang. The total content of glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and arginine, which contribute a savory taste to chungkukjangs, was highest in B. licheniformis-inoculated chungkukjang. The content of leucine, which gives a bitter taste, was highest inB. brevis -inoculated chungkukjang. Sensory evaluation revealed that chungkukjangs made using B. licheniformis and B. subtilishad a weak bitter taste and strong sweet and savory taste and good color, so their overall acceptability was high. Chungkukjang fermented with B. circulans and B. licheniformis inhibited N-Methyl-N,-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) mutagenicity by more than 80%. B. licheniformis-inoculated chungkukjang exhibited the highest antimutagenicity against and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and MNNG. These results suggest that using B. licheniformis to ferment chungkukjang increases the antimutagenic properties and improves the sweet and savory taste by increasing glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and arginine concentrations. [source]


A Novel Process for the Recovery of Polyphenols from Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) Pomace

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 2 2005
Dietmar Kammerer
ABSTRACT: A novel process for enzyme-assisted extraction of polyphenols from winery by-products was established on a pilot-plant scale. Optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis of grape skins, that is, selection of pectinolytic and cellulolytic enzymes, enzyme-substrate ratio, and time-temperature regime of enzymatic treatment, was conducted on a laboratory scale. Enzyme activities were monitored by viscosity measurement of resuspended grape pomace and by quantification of oligomeric pectin and cellulose degradation products released from cell wall material. Optimal conditions were obtained with 5000 ppm (based on dry matter) of a pectinolytic and 2500 ppm of a cellulolytic enzyme preparation, respectively, at 50°C, which were also applied in pilot-plant scale experiments. Concomitant determination of individual polyphenolics demonstrated a significantly improved yield for most compounds when compared with experiments without enzyme addition. Recovery rates were comparable to those obtained when grape pomace was extracted using sulfite. Pre-extraction of the pomace with hot water followed by treatment with cell wall degrading enzymes even increased yields of phenolic compounds. Only some quercetin glycosides and malvidin coumaroylglucoside were partly hydrolyzed due to enzyme side activities. This new process may provide a valuable alternative to the application of sulfite, which is considered crucial in food processing. [source]


Resolution of structure characteristics of AE signals in multiphase flow system,From data to information

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 10 2009
Yi-Jun He
Abstract This investigation was performed to study the underlying structure characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) signals, which could be helpful not only to understand a relatively complete picture of hydrodynamics in multiphase flow systems, but also to extract the most useful information from the original signals with respect to a particular measurement requirement. However, due to AE signals are made up of emission from many acoustic sources at different scales, the resolution of AE signals is often very complicated and appears to be relatively poorly researched. In this study, the structure characteristics of AE signals measured both in gas,solid fluidized bed and liquid,solid stirred tank were researched in detail by resorting to wavelet transform and rescaled range analysis. A general criterion was proposed to resolve AE signals into three physical-related characteristic scales, i.e., microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale. Multiscale resolution of AE signals implied that AE signals in microscale represented totally the dynamics of solid phase and could be applied to measure particle-related properties. Furthermore, based on the structure characteristics of AE signals, useful features related to particles motion were extracted to establish two new prediction models, one for on-line measurements of particle size distribution (PSD) and average particle size in gas,solid fluidized bed and the other for on-line measurement of the suspension height in liquid,solid stirred tank. The prediction results indicated that (1) measurements of PSD and average particle size using AE method showed a fairly good agreement with that using sieve method both for laboratory scale and plant scale fluidized beds, and (2) measurements of the suspension height using AE method showed a fairly good agreement with that using visual method. The results thus validated that the extracted features based on analyses of structure characteristics of AE signals were very useful for establishing effective on-line measurement models with respect to some particular applications. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source]


Effects of Larval Stocking Density on Laboratory-Scale and Commercial-Scale Production of Summer Flounder Paraliehthys dentatus

JOURNAL OF THE WORLD AQUACULTURE SOCIETY, Issue 3 2000
Nicholas J. King
Experiments 1 and 2 at commercial scale tested the densities of 10 and 60 larvae/L, and 10, 20, and 30/L, respectively. The laboratory scale experiment tested the densities of 10, 20, 30, and 40 larvae/L. Experiments were carried out in two separate filtered, flow-through seawater systems at URI Narragansett Bay Campus (laboratory-scale), and at GreatBay Aquafarms, Inc. (commercial-scale). At both locations, the larvae were raised in a "greenwater" culture environment, and fed rotifers and brine shrimp nauplii according to feeding regimes established for each location. Water temperature was maintained at 21C (± 2) and 19C (± 1) for the duration of laboratory and commercial experiments, respectively. Experiments 1 and 2 at the commercial location were terminated at 42 and 37 d post hatch (dph), respectively, and the laboratory experiment lasted 34 DPH. Larvae initially stocked at 10/L grew to an average length of 14.3 and 14.4 mm, and were significantly larger (P < 0.05) than those stocked at 30/L (13.1 mm) and 60/L (11.7 mm) in commercial scale experiments I and 2, respectively. At laboratory scale, no significant differences in length were detected, although mean total length tended to decrease with increasing stocking density (average length of 14.2, 13.3, 12.7, and 12.7 mm for treatments of 10, 20, 30, and 40/L, respectively). Final survival percentage was not affected by stocking density in either commercial experiment, and was 61 and 40% for treatments of 10 and 60/L in Experiment 1, respectively, and 62, 59, and 56% for Experiment 2, respectively. Similarly, there was no significant difference in final survival percentage among treatments in the laboratory experiment, which averaged 59, 55, 56, and 37% for treatments of 10, 20, 30, and 40L. respectively. Since larval length was not different between the intermediate densities (20 and 30 Iarvae/L), and because high-density rearing can produce a much greater numerical yield per tank, we recommend a density of 30 larvaen as an optimal stocking density for the hatchery production of summer flounder. [source]


Processability and characterization of poly(vinyl chloride)- b -poly(n -butyl acrylate)- b -poly(vinyl chloride) prepared by living radical polymerization of vinyl chloride.

JOURNAL OF VINYL & ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
Comparison with a flexible commercial resin formulation prepared with PVC, dioctyl phthalate
This work reports the synthesis and processing of a new flexible material based on PVC produced by living radical polymerization. The synthesis was carried out in a two-step process. In the first step the macroinitiator ,, ,-di(iodo)poly(butyl acrylate) [,, ,-di(iodo)PBA] was synthesized in water by single electron transfer/degenerative chain transfer mediated living radical polymerization (SET-DTLRP) catalyzed by Na2S2O4. In the second step this macroinitiator was reinitiated by SET-DTLRP of vinyl chloride (VC), thereby leading to the formation of the block copolymer poly(vinyl chloride)- b -poly(butyl acrylate)- b -poly(vinyl chloride) [PVC- b -PBA- b -PVC]. This new material was processed on a laboratory scale. The DMTA traces showed only a single glass transition temperature, thus indicating that no phase segregation was present. The copolymers were studied with regard to their processing, miscibility, and mechanical properties. The first comparison with commercial formulations made with PVC and dioctyl phthalate (DOP) is presented. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 12:156,165, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers [source]


Impact craters on small icy bodies such as icy satellites and comet nuclei

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2005
M. J. Burchell
ABSTRACT Laboratory data and the results of modelling are combined to predict the possible size of craters in icy bodies such as a comet nucleus. This is done in particular for the case of a a 370-kg mass impacting a body the size of the nucleus of comet 9P/Temple-1 at 10 km s,1. This reproduces the Deep Impact comet impact to occur in 2005, when a NASA spacecraft will observe at close range an impact on the comet nucleus of an object deployed from the main spacecraft. The predicted crater size depends not only on uncertainties in extrapolation from laboratory scale and the modelling in general, but also on assumptions made about the nature of the target. In particular, allowance is made for the full range of reasonable target porosities; this can significantly affect the outcome of the Deep Impact event. The range of predicted crater sizes covers some 7,30 m crater depth and some 50,150 m crater diameter. An increasingly porous target (i.e. one with a higher percentage of void space) will increase the depth of the crater but not necessarily the diameter, leading to the possibility of an impact event where much of the crater formation is in the interior of the crater, with work going into compaction of void space and some possible lateral growth of the crater below the surface entrance. Nevertheless, for a wide range of scenarios concerning the nature of the impact, the Deep Impact event should penetrate the surface to depths of a few tens of metres, accessing the immediate subsurface regions. In parallel to this, the same extrapolation methods are used to predict the size of impactors that may have caused the features observed on the surfaces of small bodies, e.g. the Saturnian satellite Phoebe and the nucleus of comet P/Wild-2. [source]


Characterization of a Hollow Fiber Bioartificial Liver Device

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 5 2005
Susan Fugett Abu-Absi
Abstract:, A three-compartment bioartificial liver (BAL) has been developed for potential treatment of fulminant hepatic failure. It has been shown previously that viability and liver-specific functions were maintained in laboratory-scale bioreactors of such design. In this study, the performance of hepatocytes in a clinical-scale bioartificial liver was verified by sustained specific production rates of albumin and urea, along with oxygen consumption rates for up to 56 h and liver-specific gene expression for up to 72 h. In addition, transmission of porcine endogenous retrovirus and other type C retroviral particles across the hollow fibers was not detected under both normal and extreme operating fluxes. These results demonstrate that the clinical-scale BAL performs at a level similar to the laboratory scale ,and, that, it, offers, a, viral, barrier, against, porcine , retroviruses. [source]


Purification of colored photosynthetic proteins for understanding protein isolation principles

BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 2 2003
M. Teresa Bes
Abstract The purification of a protein is the essential initial step in the study of its physical and biological properties and is one of the most common procedures in biochemistry. This article describes a method for teaching purification skills through the partial isolation of ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase and ferredoxin from a single cell batch. The method has been used for several years in an introductory biochemistry course using spinach leaves as cellular source. The protocol gives a complete picture of the preparation of a crude extract and the subsequent isolation of both electron transport proteins on a laboratory scale. It introduces students to the use of different techniques for the purification and detection of proteins and allows them to develop a number of valuable experimental and analytical skills without necessarily resorting to complicated or expensive equipment. [source]


The effect of heating rate on Escherichia coli metabolism, physiological stress, transcriptional response, and production of temperature-induced recombinant protein: A scale-down study

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 2 2009
Luis Caspeta
Abstract At the laboratory scale, sudden step increases from 30 to 42°C can be readily accomplished when expressing heterologous proteins in heat-inducible systems. However, for large scale-cultures only slow ramp-type increases in temperature are possible due to heat transfer limitations, where the heating rate decreases as the scale increases. In this work, the transcriptional and metabolic responses of a recombinant Escherichia coli strain to temperature-induced synthesis of pre-proinsulin in high cell density cultures were examined at different heating rates. Heating rates of 6, 1.7, 0.8, and 0.4°C/min were tested in a scale-down approach to mimic fermentors of 0.1, 5, 20, and 100 m3, respectively. The highest yield and concentration of recombinant protein was obtained for the slowest heating rate. As the heating rate increased, the yield and maximum recombinant protein concentration decreased, whereas a larger fraction of carbon skeletons was lost as acetate, lactate, and formate. Compared to 30°C, the mRNA levels of selected heat-shock genes at 38 and 42°C, as quantified by qRT-PCR, increased between 2- to over 42-fold when cultures were induced at 6, 1.7, and 0.8°C/min, but no increase was observed at 0.4°C/min. Only small increases (between 1.5- and 4-fold) in the expression of the stress genes spoT and relA were observed at 42°C for cultures induced at 1.7 and 6°C/min, suggesting that cells subjected to slow temperature increases can adapt to stress. mRNA levels of genes from the transcription,translation machinery (tufB, rpoA, and tig) decreased between 40% and 80% at 6, 1.7 and 0.8°C/min, whereas a transient increase occurred for 0.4°C/min at 42°C. mRNA levels of the gene coding for pre-proinsulin showed a similar profile to transcripts of heat-shock genes, reflecting a probable analogous induction mechanism. Altogether, the results obtained indicate that slow heating rates, such as those likely to occur in conventional large-scale fermentors, favored heterologous protein synthesis by the thermo-inducible expression system used in this report. Knowledge of the effect of heating rate on bacterial physiology and product formation is useful for the rational design of scale-down and scale-up strategies and optimum recombinant protein induction schemes. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 468,482. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Production of astaxanthin by Haematococcus pluvialis: Taking the one-step system outdoors

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 2 2009
M. Carmen García-Malea
Abstract The feasibility of a one-step method for the continuous production of astaxanthin by the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis has been verified outdoors. To this end, influence of dilution rate, nitrate concentration in the feed medium, and irradiance on the performance of continuous cultures of H. pluvialis was firstly analyzed indoors in bubble column reactors under daylight cycles, and then outdoors, using a tubular photobioreactor. At the laboratory scale, the behavior of the cultures agreed with that previously recorded in continuous illumination experiences, and attested that the major factors determining biomass and astaxanthin productivity were average irradiance and specific nitrate supply. The rate of astaxanthin accumulation was proportional to the average irradiance inside the culture, provided that a nitrate limiting situation had been established. The accumulation of astaxanthin under daylight cycles was maximal for a specific nitrate input of 0.5 mmol/g,day. The recorded performance has been modeled on the basis of previously developed equations, and the validity of the model checked under outdoor conditions. Productivity values for biomass and astaxanthin of 0.7 g/L,day and 8.0 mg/L,day respectively, were obtained in a pilot scale tubular photobioreactor operating under continuous conditions outdoors. The magnitude of the experimental values, which matched those simulated from the obtained model, demonstrate that astaxanthin can be efficiently produced outdoors in continuous mode through a precise dosage of the specific nitrate input, taking also into consideration the average irradiance inside the culture. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 651,657. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Study of Protein Splicing and Intein-Mediated Peptide Bond Cleavage under High-Cell-Density Conditions

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2003
Shamik Sharma
Protein splicing elements (inteins), capable of catalyzing controllable peptide bond cleavage reactions, have been used to separate recombinant proteins from affinity tags during affinity purification. Since the inteins eliminate the use of a protease in the recovery process, the intein-mediated purification system has the potential to significantly reduce recovery costs for the industrial production of recombinant proteins. Thus far, the intein system has only been examined and utilized for expression and purification of recombinant proteins at the laboratory scale for cells cultivated at low cell densities. In this study, protein splicing and in vitro cleavage of intein fusion proteins expressed in high-cell-density fed-batch fermentations of recombinant Escherichia coli were examined. Three model intein fusion constructs were used to examine the stability and splicing/cleavage activities of the fusion proteins produced under high-cell-density conditions. The data indicated that the intein fusion protein containing the wild-type intein catalyzed efficient in vivo protein splicing during high-cell-density cultivation. Also, the intein fusion proteins containing modified inteins catalyzed efficient thiol-induced in vitro cleavage reactions. The results of this study demonstrated the potential feasibility of using the intein-mediated protein purification system for industrial-scale production of recombinant proteins. [source]


Novel Process Windows , Gate to Maximizing Process Intensification via Flow Chemistry

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 11 2009
V. Hessel
Abstract Driven by the economics of scale, the size of reaction vessels as the major processing apparatus of the chemical industry has became bigger and bigger [1, 2]. Consequently, the efforts for ensuring mixing and heat transfer have also increased, as these are scale dependent. This has brought vessel operation to (partly severe) technical limits, especially when controlling harsh conditions, e.g., due to large heat releases. Accordingly, processing at a very large scale has resulted in taming of the chemistry involved in order to slow it down to a technically controllable level. Therefore, reaction paths that already turned out too aggressive at the laboratory scale are automatically excluded for later scale-up, which constitutes a common everyday confinement in exploiting chemical transformations. Organic chemists are barely conscious that even the small-scale laboratory protocols in their textbooks contain many slow, disciplined chemical reactions. Operations such as adding a reactant drop by drop in a large diluted solvent volume have become second nature, but are not intrinsic to the good engineering of chemical reactions. These are intrinsic to the chemical apparatus used in the past. In contrast, today's process intensification [3,12] and the new flow-chemistry reactors on the micro- and milli-scale [13,39] allow such limitations to be overcome, and thus, enable a complete, ab-initio type rethinking of the processes themselves. In this way, space-time yields and the productivity of the reactor can be increased by orders of magnitude and other dramatic performance step changes can be achieved. A hand-in-hand design of the reactors and process re-thinking is required to enable chemistry rather than subduing chemistry around the reactor [40]. This often leads to making use of process conditions far from conventional practice, under harsh environments, a procedure named here as Novel Process Windows. [source]


Oxidation of Benzene to Maleic Anhydride in a Fluidized Bed Reactor

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 12 2007
C. Uraz
Abstract In this project, the selective oxidation of benzene to maleic anhydride (MAN) was studied. Gas phase catalytic oxidation of benzene was carried out in a laboratory scale fluidized bed reactor on six different types of catalysts, which have different compositions. Effects of temperature, flow rates of benzene and air and catalyst type on the reaction selectivity were investigated at atmospheric pressure. The experiments were performed over a temperature range of 325 to 400,°C, a space-time (W/FA0) range from 11.28,×,105 to 31.9,×,105 g,s,mol,1, and benzene/air mole ratio changes between 0.0109 and 0.0477. It was seen that conversion of benzene to MAN increased with increasing temperature for the catalysts supported by silica gel, aluminum oxide and titanium oxide. From the results it was found that conversion increased with increasing flow rate of air. When the comparison of the catalysts were made, it could be said that catalysts supported by silica gel showed higher MAN conversions. So it can be concluded that catalysts supported by silica gel were more suitable catalysts for benzene oxidation to MAN in a fluidized bed reactor. [source]


Mischen und organische Reaktionen in der chemischen Industrie,

CHEMIE-INGENIEUR-TECHNIK (CIT), Issue 5 2004
T. Bayer Dr.
Abstract Mischvorgänge sind eine der wichtigsten Grundoperationen in der chemischen Industrie. Neben normalen Rührkesseln werden oft auch statische Mischer verwendet. Seit einigen Jahren erfreut sich aber auch die Mikrotechnik einer wachsenden Aufmerksamkeit in der Prozessentwicklung. Sie wird , insbesondere in der chemischen Verfahrenstechnik , zu einem wertvollen Werkzeug für Forschung und Entwicklung. Dabei wird die Mikroreaktionstechnik sowohl für die Entwicklung neuer Prozesse als auch bei der Optimierung existierender Verfahren angewandt. Mikrostrukturierte Mischer und Wärmeübertrager werden eingesetzt, um das Potenzial von chemischen Reaktionen , ohne Wärme- oder Stofftransportlimitierungen , zu untersuchen und zu optimieren. Auch erste Anwendungen über den Labormaßstab hinaus sind bekannt. Mixing and Organic Reactions in the Chemical Industry Mixing is one of the most important unit operations in the chemical industry. In addition to classical mixed vessels, static mixers are often used too. However, for several years now, micro technology is becoming more and more common practice in process development. Especially in chemical engineering micro technology becomes a very valuable tool for research and development. Micro reaction technology is used for the optimization of existing and the development of new processes. Microstructured mixer and heat exchangers are used to overcome heat and mass transfer limitations to show the potential of a chemical reaction. First examples for the application of micro technology beyond the laboratory scale are already know. [source]


Gedanken zur Zukunft der Feststoffverfahrenstechnik

CHEMIE-INGENIEUR-TECHNIK (CIT), Issue 12 2002
H.J. Feise Dr.
Abstract Die chemische Industrie erlebt derzeit große Veränderungen. Für die Zukunft erwarten die im ,Solids Processing Industrial Network" beteiligten Experten, dass sich zwei verschiedene Arten von chemischen Anlagen entwickeln: einerseits die vielseitige, modularisierte Mehrzweckanlage und andererseits ,World scale"-Großanlagen. Gleichzeitig wird der bereits hohe Anteil von Feststoffen unter den Produkten der chemischen Industrie weiter steigen und neue Anforderungen stellen: Die Kleinmengenprodukte müssen individuell auf die Bedürfnisse des jeweiligen Kunden zugeschnitten werden, wodurch Product Design zu einer den Wettbewerb bestimmenden Technologie wird. Bei Großanlagen müssen neue Technologien entwickelt werden, welche die notwendigen, hohen Durchsätze bereitstellen und außerdem vom Labor- auf World scale-Maßstab hochskaliert werden können. Einen erheblichen Anteil am künftigen Erfolg wird die Automatisierung haben, deren Einsatz zum Großteil von der Verfügbarkeit geeigneter Inline-Messsysteme und der Entwicklung von Modellen zur Simulation des Prozesses und der dazugehörigen Partikeleigenschaften abhängen wird. On the Future of Solid Processing Techniques The chemical industry is experiencing major changes. The experts of the "Solids Processing Industrial Network" expect that in the future two kinds of chemical plants will develop: on the one hand the polyvalent, multipurpose, modular plant and on the other hand the world-scale plants. At the same time the high percentage of solids as products of chemical processes will continue to increase and therefore new challenges have to be met. Small-scale production of solids has to be customized to the individual customer needs, which means that product design will be a technology that defines the competitiveness. For large plants techniques have to be developed that enable large volumes to be produced but that also allow the reliable scale-up from laboratory scale to world-scale production. Automatization will play a crucial role in the success of solids processing, which will depend on the availability of on-line measurement systems and the development of simulation models for the processes and the particle properties involved. [source]