(25b) Consequences of Pilot Plant Design Decisions

Often when designing a pilot plant, one of the engineer's biggest challenges is to design a plant that will meet objectives within a defined, or over constrained budget. One of the major pitfalls involves designing smaller pilot plant and demonstration plant unit operations using full scale principles. In most cases, equal or better operating results can be obtained while meeting budgetary constraints by using philosophies suited to the scale. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce professionals to philosophies that lead to successful pilot plant projects, while saving the company money. In addition, examples of decisions made during the design phase, and their associated positive and negative consequences during start up and operation, will be discussed.