Process Intensification: A Case Study

Abstract

While implementing a new chemical process, an attempt is made to design all the equipment by using best available knowledge together with pilot plant experiments. However, the status of current knowledge is closer to an “art” than the desired state of “science”. Therefore, as the new knowledge gets developed with respect to time, the designs of equipment in operating plants can be improved with incremental cost for modifications. Improvements are possible in capacity, selectivity, purity and safety of the plant. The process of incorporating such improvements is called “Process Intensification”. In the present work, a real case study has been described which has given substantial benefits in capacity and selectivity. It has been brought out that the key features of process intensification are: (i) to understand quantitatively all the rate processes such as mass transfer, heat transfer, chemical kinetics, etc. and (ii) to understand the fluid mechanics and relate fluid mechanical parameters to the rate processes and hence the design objectives.