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Pilot Testing Facility

Pilot tests are an important step for development of any process. They help us verify the feasibility of a separation task. Finepac offers pilot testing facilities at our state of the art pilot and laboratory-testing centre for evaluation of a variety of separation tasks.

In the chemical and refining industry setting up of a pilot plant is an important step to ensure safe column sizing by measuring equilibrium data. Pilot testing ensures high separation efficiency at low-pressure drop and allows a safe scale-up into planning of an actual production plant.


Services

We offer a broad range of services including

  • Process development
  • Feasibility studies
  • Process validation
  • Laboratory plant trials
  • Pilot plant trials
  • Documentation and test reports

Pilot Facility

At our testing facilities, we offer a laboratory and a pilot column with the following features

  • Laboratory and pilot column for all separation technologies
  • Column sizes
    • Pilot column – 150mm diameter
    • Laboratory column – 50mm diameter
  • Approximately up to 75 theoretical stages
  • Internals: structured packing and random packing
  • Vacuum down to 10-3 mbar (0.1 Pa)
  • Heating system from 20-250 degree celsius
  • Cooling system from 10-100 degree celsius

Testing

Theoretical models correctly predict the performances of separation tasks. However, pilot tests are still required for a number tasks including

  • Mixtures with impurities
  • Systems with unknown vapour liquid equilibrium
  • Requirements related to very high product purity

On the basis of the results from simulations or process data from clients, the column is configured according to process requirements and parameters are varied during the tests to simulate the conditions in the actual test including

  • Types of internals, number of stages
  • Reflux ratio
  • Operating pressure
  • Feed flow
  • Position of side streams

Test Analysis

Analysis of samples is essential for evaluating the tests results. We provide our customers with the latest computer controlled testing equipment. In case of special requirements we are associated with certified laboratories that provide us the required test results.
We provide for the following testing facilities

  • Gas chromatography (GC)
  • Karl-Fischer titration
  • pH test