In-House Training
Secrets of Batch Process Scale-Up
Tutors: Francis X. McConville
Operating a commercially viable chemical process requires a good chemical synthesis to start with, but is also subject to the interplay of a myriad of important physical phenomena – heat transfer, mass transfer, fluid flow, etc. which are traditionally the realm of the chemical engineer. An understanding of these scale-up phenomena is crucial for the laboratory development of processes that will scale successfully.
This course presents an overview of these issues and examines their impact on process operation in the pilot plant and beyond, including scale-up considerations for route selection, raw material charging, reaction steps, workup, crystallization, product isolation, drying, etc. Common bench techniques for each of these steps are contrasted to the safety and operability criteria for successful pilot plant operation. Numerous examples and case histories are presented, along with tips and techniques for operators and experimenters. Heavy emphasis is placed on process safety.
An underlying goal of the course is improving communication and mutual understanding between development team members of different backgrounds; thus, the course is appropriate for synthetic chemists, process development chemists and process engineers with limited pilot plant experience who wish to learn more about the potential pitfalls of scale-up in process development. The course complements the more chemistry-focused Scientific Update course “Chemical Development and Scale-Up in the Fine Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries”.
Course outline
| Process Design for Scale-Up Process development strategies Importance of engineering in PDsScale-Up – An Overview Role of the Pilot Plant Overview of scale-up issues Technology transfer issuesBatch Reactors Typical plant operations and equipment Characteristics of batch operationsRaw Materials Raw material and route selection Large-scale charging methods and issuesTemperature Control Large scale temperature control Heat transfer in batch reactors Controlling exothermic reactionsFollowing Reaction Progress Reaction endpoint determination Sampling methods / issues On-line analytical techniques | Agitation and Mixing Large scale mixing equipment Mixing limited reaction Mixing scale-up / scale-downQuench & Work-Up Liquid-liquid extractions Phase continuity issues and emulsions Distillation & Stripping Differential distillation Azeotropes and solvent exchange Crystallization and Precipitation Basic principles / yield estimation Controlling supersaturation Scale-up issues Product Isolation and Drying Large-scale solid-liquid separations Filtration and drying equipment Filtration and drying modelling Process Hazards and Safety Assessment Common hazards in large-scale processing Process hazard assessments and evaluations |
Benefits of attending
On completion of this course you should be able to:
- Assess process safety and scaleability
- Identify process operations that may be problematic on scale-up
- Design processes that will minimize or avoid scale-up issues
- Select operating methods and equipment for effective scale-up
- Calculate heat removal rates and safe rates of addition of reagents
- Determine mixing requirements for scale-up
- Design crystallizations which can be successfully operated at scale
- Predict the filterability of solid products upon scale-up
- Minimize the effects of scale-up on yield, selectivity and product purity
Who should attend
- Synthetic chemists
- Process development chemists
- Process engineers
in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries with limited pilot plant experience, who wish to learn more about the potential pitfalls of process scale-up and ways to avoid them.
What's Included
This course fee includes a comprehensive course manual, refreshments throughout the day, lunch and one course dinner. Also included in the course fee is a copy of the Pilot Plant Real Book, a unique handbook for the Chemical Process Industry, authored by Mr Fran McConville.
The course fee includes:
- comprehensive course manual
- coffee/tea refreshments breaks throughout each day
- buffet lunch each day
- course dinner on the first evening
- course certificate
- a copy of the Pilot Plant Real Book authored by Mr Fran McConville
