SCALING-UP IN DESIGN

When accurate data are not available in the literature or when past experience does not give an
adequate design basis, pilot-plant tests may be necessary in order to design effective plant
equipment. The results of these tests must be scaled up to the plant capacity. A chemical engineer,
therefore, should be acquainted with the limitations of scale-up methods and should know how to
select the essential design variables (Peters & Timmerhaus, 1991).

OBJECTIVES OF SCALE UP

1. To produce physically and chemically stable products

2. To review of the processing equipment
3. Guidelines for production and process control
4. Evaluation and validation
5. To identify the critical features of the process
6. To provide master manufacturing formla.

STEPS IN SCALING-UP

Define product economics based on projected market size and competitive selling and
provide guidance for allowable manufacturing costs

Conduct laboratory studies and scale-up planning at the same time

Define key rate-controlling steps in the proposed process

Conduct preliminary larger-than-laboratory studies with equipment to be used in rate-

controlling step to aid in plant design

Design and construct a pilot plant including provisions for process and environment controls,
cleaning and sanitizing systems, packaging and waste handling systems, and meeting
regulatory agency requirements.

Evaluate pilot plant results including process economics to make any corrections and a
decision on whether or not to proceed with full scale plant development.
 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR SCALE UP

1. Reporting responsibility
2. Personnel Requirements
3. Space Requirements
4. Review of Formula
5. Raw materials
6. Equipment
7. Production rates
8. Process Evaluation
9. Preparation of Master Manufacturing Procedures
10. Product Stability and Uniformity
11. GMP Considerations

IMPORTANT ASPECTS CONCERNING THE SCALE-UP

1. Scale-up Procedures for Unavailability of Model Material Systems

To be able to adjust the process point of the pertinent pi-space in the model experiment,
one has to choose an appropriate model material system. In order to conduct model
measurements in only one model device, the numerical values of the pi-numbers in
question must be adjusted by the appropriate selection of the numerical values of the
process parameters and/or of the model material system. If this is not feasible, then the
process characteristic has to be evaluated from model experiments in devices of different
scales or the operational process point has to be extrapolated from measurements in
differently sized model devices. When model material systems are not available or the
relevant material parameters are unknown, model measurements must be carried out in
models of various sizes. The unavailability of the model material systems can sometimes
limit the application of the dimensional analysis. In such cases it is, of course, completely
wrong to speak of “limits of the dimensional analysis”.
2. Scale-Up Under Conditions of Partial Similarity
When appropriate material systems are not available for model experiments, accurate
simulation of the working conditions of an industrial plant on a laboratory- or bench-scale
may not be possible. Under such conditions, experiments on differently sized equipment
are customarily performed before extrapolation of the results to the full-scale operation.
Sometimes this expensive and basically unreliable procedure can be replaced by a well-
planned experimental strategy. Namely, the process in question can be either divided up
into parts which are then investigated separately or certain similarity criteria can be
deliberately abandoned and then their effect on the entire process checked. Several “rules
of thumb” for dimensioning different types of process equipment are, in fact, scale-up rules
based unknowingly on partial similarity. These rules include the so-called mixing power
per unit volume, P/V, widely used for scaling up mixing vessels, and the superficial gas
velocity, v, which is normally used for scaling up bubble columns and fluidized beds.