(This is a two-day presentation, held on consecutive Thursdays in October)
For more than 40 years, process intensification (PI) efforts in the U.S. have lagged behind those in other parts of the world. Europe has invested heavily in this research area, and both industry and academia have embraced advances in these technologies, particularly in the chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing areas, which have seen increases in productivity, energy efficiency and sustainability. American manufacturing is now awakening from its long slumber and progress is on the horizon. The Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment (RAPID) Manufacturing Institute and its robust community of members are leading this effort in revitalizing the U.S, process industries and driving innovation to new heights.
Process intensification aims to dramatically improve manufacturing processes through the application of novel process schemes and equipment. These novel approaches can be used to overcome bottlenecks, such as those imposed by thermodynamics, or to combine processing phenomena into fewer processing units with a concurrent reduction in capital cost and/or energy intensity. PI goes beyond the incremental improvements achieved through optimizing existing equipment and process schemes, and achieves step-changes in energy efficiency, capital cost reductions, and environmental impact.
This lecture series will introduce the attendees to the concept of RAPID Manufacturing, what it is, and how it is being implemented in industry. Examples of RAPID-type improvements will be presented, with a focus on modularization. Also included will be an introduction to The Internet of Things, which can help manufacturing with achieving many of the goals of RAPID Manufacturing.
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