Start-up for batch projects
15 Jan 2000
Batch production is becoming ever more popular in the process industries. Companies are switching to small, flexible units which are more suited to the `just-in-time' delivery demanded by many customers.
Responding to this, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC, has launched two projects, SCIENTIA and BRITEST. Part of the Innovative Manufacturing Initiative, the projects aim to help operators to extract the best possible performances from their plants.
SCIENTIA, which brings together a consortium including ICI, Unilever, DuPont and software producer MDC Technology focuses on the use of multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) to control batch processes. This can help companies handle and interpret the data produced by their plants, so they can ensure that they produce high-quality products even when the processes are in their least stable phases, start-up and shut-down.
BRITEST, meanwhile, aims to change the way batch plants are designed so that the plants are less complex, cheaper and easier to reconfigure to produce different products.
The consortium involves Imperial College and the Keyworth Institute at Leeds University. Industrial members include Rhodia, Glaxo Wellcome, Synetix and Zeneca.
