PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

THE DESIGN PROCESS

Warren D. Seider
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Design of chemical products begins

with the identification and creation of
potential opportunities to satisfy
societal needs and to generate profit
The scope of chemical products is
extremely broad

The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

Natural
Resources

LECTURE 1B

Manufacturing
Process

Basic Chemical Products

(Commodity and Specialty
Chemicals, Biomaterials,
Polymeric Materials)

(a)

Basic
Chemical
Products

Manufacturing
Process

Industrial Products
(Films, Fibers, Paper, )

(b)

Basic chemicals
Industrial products

Manufacturing
Process

Consumer Products
(Dialysis Devices, Post-it Notes,
Transparencies, Drug Delivery
Patches, Cosmetics, ...)

(c)

The Design Process

As new chemical products are conceived,

consider the interactions between business
decision makers and process systems engineers
A typical scenario follows with
small variations common

The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

Business Decision Making Input Sources

Technical Services,
Application Groups
Synthesize solutions using
existing technologies and
promising lab results
Ideas

Technical Sales,
Business Managers
Teams work with
customers to respond
to needs

Product Developers,
Ideas R&D Groups
To invent
new products
Ideas

Promising
Projects
(Requests for
engineering
funding)

Business
Center

Project
Funded

Manufacturing Sites

PSE Work in Stage-Gate

Development Process

Work to reduce
operating problems

Project
Rejected

Promising
Projects

Promising
Results

Product and Process Synthesis

Process Simulation Studies
Cost Estimation
Profitability Analysis

Inputs to
Business
Decision
Makers

The Design Process

Business Decision Making

Inputs

Concept Approved proceed to next step

Business
Decision Makers

(Usually to prepare a
more detailed evaluation
- keeping capital limits in
mind)

(often high-level
managers)

Concept
Rejected

Concept Recycled
for further study given reviews (basis
for decision)

The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

Key Complicating Factor

In recent years, more profitable companies
tend to focus on specialty and industrial
chemicals, and consumer products
- few large companies remain
that focus on a full range of
diversified chemical products

The Design Process

Increasingly, few single companies have the

technical skills and manufacturing resources to
produce complex products alone.
e.g., when designing fuel cells, a design team may
determine that it is best for
Company
X
Y
Z

Manufactures
Porous anode and cathode
Polymer (for thin films)
Products comprised of
specialty and industrial
chemicals from X and Y

Challenge in design to arrange for consortia of

companies to collaborate in
product design and manufacture
The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

Must decide How deep into the food chain

to penetrate?
Typical plan (for fuel cell)
First year

- develop porous anode

Second year - develop copolymer

Third year - acquire manufacturing company

The Design Process

Business Decision Making In Design Courses

Can introduce students to:
Input creation
Input processing
Idea stimulation
using lectures and reading assignments
Challenge to include aspects of business decision
making in student design projects
- usually time limitations and the academic
setting place severe constraints
The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

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PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

Consider, next, a template for teaching the steps

in the design of chemical products and processes
- observe the inter-relationship of the
product and process design steps

The Design Process

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Potential Opportunity
Part I

Create and Assess Primitive Problem

Identify needs
Generate ideas
Interview customers
Survey literature
Marketing and business studies

No

Is the chemical
structure known?

Yes

Find chemicals or chemical

Part I
mixtures that have the desired
properties and performance
Examples:
environmentally-friendly thin polymer films,
refrigerants, solvents for cleaning and extraction,
lubricants, macromolecules for pharmaceuticals,
solutes for hand-warmers, and high tensile strength
ceramics

No

Is a process required to
produce the chemicals?
Yes

The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

12

PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

Process Creation

Part I

Preliminary Database Creation

Experiments

Preliminary Process Synthesis

Reactions, Separations,
T-P Change Operations,
Task Integration Equipment Selection
Batch or Continuous?
Is the Gross Profit Favorable?

Reject

Yes

The Design Process

13

Process Operations for Three Chemical Products

The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

14

PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

Development of Base Case Part I

Create a Process Flowsheet

Process Integration

Create
Detailed
Database

Prepare a
Simulation
Model

Pilot-plant testing
Modify flowsheet

No

Is the Process
Still Promising?
Yes

The Design Process

15

Yes

Development of Base Case Part I

Detailed Process Synthesis

Part II
- Algorithmic Methods
Is the Process Continuous
or Batch?

Create a Process Flowsheet

Continuous
Synthesis of Chemical
Reactor Networks
Process Integration
Separation Train Synthesis

Batch
Optimal Sequencing and
Scheduling of Processing
Steps

Synthesis of
React.-Sep.-Recyc. Networks
Second Law Analysis

Create
Detailed
Database

Pilot-plant testing
Modify flowsheet

Synthesis of
Heat Exchanger Networks

Prepare a
Simulation
Model

Synthesis of
Mass Exchanger Networks

Part IV
Plantwide
Controllability
Assessment
Qualitative Synthesis
of Control Structures
Flowsheet
Controllability Analysis

No

Is the Process
Still Promising?
Yes

The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

16

PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

Detailed Design, Equip. Sizing, and Optim. Part III

Is the final product a:
Commodity chemical
Specialty chemical
Configured consumer or
industrial product (that uses
the chemicals or chemical mixtures
produced)?
Equipment Sizing
Heat Exchanger Design
Tower Design
Pump & Compressor Design

Product Design

Capital Cost Estimation

Profitability Analysis

Yes

Optimization

Is the Process
and/or Product Still
Promising?

No
Is the Process and/or Product Feasible?
Yes

No
Reject

The Design Process

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Until Recently
Emphasis was on the design of
commodity chemical processes

Recently
Emphasis has been shifting toward
product design i.e., of specialty and
industrial chemicals, and consumer products
Throughout this workshop, we seek to focus
on the quantitative aspects of product design
appropriate for undergraduate design courses.
The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

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PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

To date, ChE student design teams focus on the ChE

aspects of configured consumer product design.
Challenging for faculty from different
departments to formulate interdisciplinary
design teams with stakeholders from other
engineering, business, legal, etc., fields.

The Design Process

19

In our design courses, we seek active

interactions between PSE and BDMs through
design projects
Use timely design projects posed in an industrial
setting with sufficient data to permit quantitative
analysis of alternative designs
- including generation of potential
product ideas and alternative process
flowsheets.
Use of computer simulators to size equipment
(including configured consumer products),
estimate costs, and calculate profitability including
sensitivities
Preparation of oral and written design reports
presented to industrial consultants and faculty
The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

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PRODUCT and PROCESS DESIGN

LECTURE 1B

For Additional Pespectives Involving:

The Stage-Gate Product Development Process introduced
by Robert G. Cooper www.prod-dev.com, and
Revised templates for the design of industrial and
configured consumer products, see:
Seider, W. D., J. D. Seader, and D. R. Lewin, Chemical
Product and Process Design Education, FOCAPD2004
Conference, CACHE, 2004.
Seider, W. D., J. D. Seader, D. R. Lewin, and
S. Widagdo, Computer-aided Product and Process
Design, AspenWorld2004 Conference, Oct., 2004.

Copies can be downloaded from the workshop web site:

http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~dlewin/CACHE_Workshop_2004.htm
The Design Process

Warren D. Seider, University of Pennsylvania

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