(25a) Rude Awakenings in Pilot Plant Operation

The pilot plant is a vital source of quantities of materials for testing and data for the design of commercial-scale equipment. Pilot plant operation often reveals subtleties in the process that were overlooked at the lab-scale. This paper discusses several pilot plant experiences where "simple" lab processes were difficult to operate at larger scale. One example describes a batch distillation which unexpectedly became a reactive distillation. Another example describes a continuous process with closed recycles that became virtually inoperable due to closure of the recycle loop. The pilot plant is an important step in answering many key knowledge gaps. It often contributes to the general but key knowledge gap "we don't know what we don't know."