Saturday, December 22, 2018

Useful And Essential Facts About Pilot Plants

By Mary Lewis


Technology is always changing since the beginning of the technological era. As such, there must be a way of telling whether the new technology is ready for use in its current state or requires further modification. There is where pilot plants come in handy. A pilot plant can be defined as a pre-commercial production system which utilizes new production technology so that it provides a chance for further studies being done about the new technology.

Apart from obtaining knowledge, the pilot plant gets operated for various reasons. It offers a chance of finding out the effects of the changing operating conditions within commercial production units which are already in existence. In addition, it is also possible for any concerned person or engineers to examine aspects like construction materials and recycle operations among others.

A pilot plant also plays an essential role in safety. Before one forwards their process of proposal to a higher body of decision making for funding, they must ensure that it is completely safe. Building and operating the plant helps in reducing chances of making mistakes which may be costly on the final equipment. Financers prefer to make financial commitments to investments that have a potential of succeeding.

The plants are also helpful for conforming to regulations set by the government or changing them. They also play the role of trying to get public support for the new technology in question before it is allowed to operate. A pilot plant is a miniature version of a full scale production plant. They capture all the aspects of full scale plants. Depending on the technology in question, they normally exist in different sizes.

Building can be done in laboratories with the use of simple stock laboratory apparatus while paying attention to the sizes. Nevertheless, in certain instances the plants may be a lot more expensive on engineering works because the assembling is done right from process equipment instrumentation and piping together with being custom fabricated. Their usage in teaching employees in preparation for operations in full-size production units is another major use associated with them.

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.

Most ordinary people may not understand that a poorly laid and crowded units cost more in terms of repair efforts and takes more maintenance time. Well-laid operating facilities which come after the piloting phase take advantage of the available space without exceeding or underusing it. It goes without saying that the space must be maintained at a premium since adding more or significantly reducing it translates to unnecessary expenses.

Finally, skill and experience come when an individual wants to design the layout of a unit. Some commonly used techniques include inspired guesswork, less-detailed design, and detailed design. Each approach has its merits and demerits. The advantages and shortcomings are realized when considering factors like the real space required, cost, and time.




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