Using All the Tools in the Toolbox - Case Studies in Process Improvement

At commissioning, a chemical manufacturing plant represents the end results of years, and sometimes decades, of research and continuous improvement in design.  Each plant is built with a goal of maximizing the economic return for that investment.  However, it is doubtful if any plant has ever been built that did not contain an opportunity to reduce cost or otherwise improve performance at some point in its lifetime.  Even if a plant were to be built that represented the state of the art in performance by every measure, the reality that markets are not static and scientific innovation inexorably advances means that opportunities to maximize the value from these expensive assets will continue to be created.

Factors that create opportunities for value creation or preservation will be presented.  A challenge for process researchers is that project timing and resource availability invariably complicate the problem-solving process.  A series of examples will be discussed that demonstrate the use of available tools (modeling, lab-scale experimentation, pilot-scale development) to achieve process improvement goals.