Saturday, December 15, 2018

Useful And Essential Facts About Pilot Plants

By Mary Lewis


There has always been a change in technology since the technological era began. There is normally a way used to tell if the new technology is ready to be used in the state it is in or if it requires to be modified. It is at this juncture that pilot plants come in handy. A pilot plant is a pre-commercial production system which uses new production technology to provide a chance for extensive studies to be conducted about the new technology.

A pilot plant is built and operated for several other reasons besides obtaining knowledge. For instance, it provides a chance of exploring the effects of changing operating conditions in already existing commercial production units. To add on this, they make it possible for engineers or anyone concerned to investigate aspects such as recycle operations and materials of construction among many other factors.

Safety is another advantage presented by trial plants, which cannot be ignored. Before handing a proposal or project to the uppermost management or bodies associated with safety and funding, one must ensure the proposal is effective and safe. Constructing and operating a trial plant decreases the possibility of making mistakes that may be costly in the final large-scale plant. Financers feel more convinced to provide funds for proposals that have a higher chance of succeeding.

In order to change or adhere to government regulations, it is necessary to construct a trial plant. Trying and getting the public back up on new technology before it is fully operation is another non-technical objective of a trial plant. A typical plant is a miniature form of a full-sized production plant. They are constructed in numerous sizes with consideration to the tested technology.

The plant can be established in laboratories by use of simple stock equipment considering its size. Nevertheless, in other cases, they may be costly since they are assembled right from piping, custom fabricated, and instrumented to process equipment. Another role is that they can be used to train personnel for tasks that they will assume in a full scale unit of production once it is constructed.

Other layout design goals that a pilot plant achieves are minimized maintenance costs and minimize space requirements. During this phase the concerned people must make sure that components which need to be accessed easily for replacement and maintenance are located in the right place. Generally, the final unit must be well-laid for easier building and modification.

Crowded and poorly laid units have a high cost of repair efforts and takes longer time to maintain. Well-laid facilities which are constructed after piloting utilize the space available without underusing or exceeding it. The space should be maintained because if it is reduced or increased significantly, it leads to extra expenses which are not necessary.

In conclusion, when an individual has to come up with the layout of the unit, skills and experience come in handy. A number of the well-known layout techniques used are inspired guesswork, detailed design, and less-detailed design. Each method has its advantages and limitations. The shortcomings and advantages of each method are evident in time, cost, and actual space required.




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