Industrial processes and scale-up

The aim of the course is to provide students with the theoretical notions for the correct scale up of unit operations in the chemical industry. The course will analyze characteristics, usefulness and limits of laboratory scale equipment, bench scale, pilot plant and industrial plant. The mock up plants for the study of the transport phenomena involved will be discussed. The methodologies for defining the correct models for the scale up starting from the experimental data collected in the laboratory scale will be presented. The lectures will start from the basic theoretical concepts of chemical plants.

At the end of the course, the student is expected to be able to: 1) define the development status of a technology and its TRL; 2) apply the basic concepts of process design for the development of a new technology; 3) identify the possible critical aspects of a unit operation on industrial scale and identify possible solutions; 4) design laboratory-scale experiments to obtain the data at the basis of the scale up process; 5) select and define the kinetic and thermodynamic models necessary for scaling up; 6) use process simulation software for process design, scale up and plant optimization.