CHE620

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Chapter 4: Chemical Product Design

By: Cik Siti Khatijah Jamaludin

 Introduction
Historically, chemical engineers have worked on continuous
chemical processes that run 24 hours per day for most of
the year.
The specifications for the chemical produced by the process
were well-defined by the unit operations under control of
the chemical engineer. The chemical engineer's role was
disconnected from the ultimate consumer.
The capstone design class has traditionally involved design
and economic analysis of such a process.
However, the future of chemical engineering may not be in
the traditional, large, continuously operating chemical
plant. Rather, the future may be in the development and
design of what can be termed chemical product design.
Chemical product design

New paradigm evolving for chemical engineers

 Informal studies have shown that the number
of students taking jobs with companies that
manufacture chemical products is on the rise.
 So, what are chemical products??
Products whose
microstructure rather
New specialty than molecular
chemicals structure creates
Cussler & value (e.g., paint)

Moggridge and
Shaeiwitz &
Turton define
five types of Devices causing
chemical chemical change (e.g.,
products a blood
Virtual chemical products oxygenator)
(e.g., software to
simulate chemical
processes or estimate Technology that uses
physical chemical engineering
properties) principles
 What is specialty chemicals?
Specialty chemicals are manufactured on the
basis of their performance or function.
They can be single-chemical entities or
formulations whose composition influences
the performance and processing of the end
product.
The process in which specialty chemicals are
created is called batch processing.
What are some examples of chemical
products??? Which company
manufactures them??
 Oleo Basics & Specialties

Key Products Major Applications & End Markets

Fractionated Acids Surfactants,

Stearic, Oleic Acids soaps, cosmetics,
Fatty Acids Distilled, Modified rubbers, candles,
Acids defoamers
Oleo basics

Surfactants,
Broad & Precut
antioxidant,
Fatty Alcohol Fatty Alcohols
cosmetics,
Methyl Esters Pure Fractions amines
Alcohols

Distilled, Pharma Humectants

Grade solubilizers,
Glycerine moisturiser,
preserving agent
Specialties

Drilling Fluids
Biodegradables
Additives (
Oil Fields drilling fluids,
emulsifiers,
Chemicals performance
lubricants, corrosion
additives
inhibitors, cleaners

9
A few more examples of chemical
products..

Source: Turton & Shaeiwitz (2003)

In designing chemical products, there are a few
technical issues in which a chemical engineers
must be familiar with:
Batch processing
Identifying customers needs
Evaluating alternatives
Estimating cost of prototype
Manufacturability
Estimating the cost of a product once it is
mass produced
 What other key difference between
process design & product design??

vs.

Key difference between process design and product

design is the entrepreneurial skills required of the
engineer in product design
 Strategies for Chemical Product Design
A strategy for chemical product design has been suggested by Cussler
and Moggridge. It has four steps:

.Identify customer need

Generate ideas to meet

the need

Select among the ideas

Manufacture
 Step 1: Identify customers needs
A new chemical product is sought in response to a need.
The need might be those of individual customers, those of groups,
or those of society.
Example 1: The case of Freon refrigerant
In the 1980s, Freons were identified as having high ozone-
depleting potential because of their chlorine content.
Therefore, a need for an environmentally friendly chemical with
the appropriate properties of a refrigerant was established.
This led to the development of fluorocarbon refrigerants (e.g.,
R-134a) and methods for their synthesis. However, this did not
solve the problem entirely. It was then determined that the
new refrigerants were incompatible with typical compressor
lubricants. This created the need for a new lubricant that was
compatible with the new refrigerant. Subsequently, this new
lubricant was developed, and the new refrigerant began to be
phased in as Freons were phased out.
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 When a need is defined, it has to be precisely defined. Care must be taken
to define the correct need.
Example 2:
Consider the needs of vessels used for space travel (e.g., the space
shuttle) as they re-enter Earths atmosphere.
The customer, NASA, initially sought the development of a material that
would withstand the temperatures of re-entry. Such a material was
never developed. Once the problem was redefined, a more appropriate
need was defined.
The real need was not to have a material capable of withstanding the
temperatures of re-entry; the real need was to protect those inside the
space vessel from the high temperatures generated by friction with the
edge of Earths atmosphere.
This led to the development of the sacrificial tiles used in the space
shuttle. The energy generated by friction is dissipated by vaporizing
these sacrificial tiles, thereby protecting those inside the vessel from the
heat.
Only after the correct need was identified was the problem solved.
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc
 Strategies for Chemical Product Design
A strategy for chemical product design has been suggested by Cussler
and Moggridge. It has four steps:

.Identify customer need

Generate ideas to meet

the need
 Step 2: Generate ideas to meet the needs
The generation of ideas is tantamount to
brainstorming. Just as in brainstorming, when ideas are
being generated, there are no bad ideas.
Ideas gathered will be screened in the next step,
selection.
Ideas can be sought from a variety of sources,
including, but not limited to, members of the product
development team, potential customers, published
literature, consultants, even the competitors!.
Do not get married to an idea!
 Strategies for Chemical Product Design
A strategy for chemical product design has been suggested by Cussler
and Moggridge. It has four steps:

.Identify customer need

Generate ideas to meet

the need

Select among the ideas

 Step 3: Selection among the ideas

SO MANY IDEAS GENERATED. HOW TO SELECT?

 Once a sufficient number of ideas has been
generated, it is necessary to screen the ideas and
select a few for more detailed investigation.
1st type of selection by using criteria drawn by
technical/scientific principles.

Thermodynamically Reject the idea

impossible??

Kinetically unfavorable?? Reject the idea

 2nd type of selection concept screening &
concept scoring methods

Concept Screening

Concept Scoring

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc

 Class Activity
As a chemical engineer, have you ever thought of
designing any chemical product? In a team of 3 or
4, design a chemical product by first, describing
the need for the proposed product and then,
brainstorm as many ideas as possible to serve the
need. Thereafter, screen and select the best idea
by using technical screening, concept screening
and concept scoring methods. Submit your 1-2
pages design work to your instructor by the end
of the class. Lets start and good luck!
 Strategies for Chemical Product Design
A strategy for chemical product design has been suggested by Cussler
and Moggridge. It has four steps:

.Identify customer need

Generate ideas to meet

the need

Select among the ideas

Manufacture
 Step 4: Manufacture

As we have reached this step, by now we should

already have identified a customers need, have
sought large number of ideas to meet this need,
and have selected the best one or two ideas.
 Assembling
Intellectual missing
Property/Patents information

3 aspects to
consider
before we
start
manufacturing

Environmental
impact of our
product
 Intellectual Property/Patents
Often, new products will include some aspects of
invention.
The inventor has the right to seek patent
protection or not.
Patents can give inventor the exclusive licence to
market his/her invention, and hence command
higher prices which in turn, let the inventor
quickly recover from development cost.
However, in return of this exclusive licence, the
inventor must make full disclosure of the product
details.
 Assembling Missing Information
Necessary to make sure our selected product
will function as we expect.
Also needed for patent applications.
Usually, information must be obtained from
actual chemical or physical experiments,
which are almost tedious.
To save time, experiments have to be done as
efficient as possible.
 Environmental Impact of The Product
Involves making cradle-to-grave analysis of
how the manufacture, use, and the disposal of
the product will impact the environment.
 It is a complex assessment, because there are
many different criteria for environmental
damage, including contamination of local
river, pollutant discharge and landfill
requirement, and global CO2 output.
Prior to proceeding with manufacture, we
must satisfy regulatory bodies that any
environmental damage caused by the product
does not outweigh its benefit.
In Malaysia, the product must comply to the
Environmental Quality Act 1974.
 How to
Can the product
manufacture
be
the product??
manufactured??

Manufacturing
step consist of..

Cost Detailed
estimation product
specification

Prototype
Testing

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc

 Cost estimation
Chemical products usually carry a high price tag.
Eventually, prices decrease to attract new customers and
then decrease significantly if the product becomes a
commodity.
Pharmaceuticals, an example of a chemical product, also
carry a high price tag when they are new.
Pharmaceutical companies must recover the extremely
high costs of product research and development and the
regulatory process before their patents expire and low-
cost, generic alternatives become available, or before a
competitor invents a superior alternative.

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc

 Prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model or
release of a product built to test a concept or
process or to act as a thing to be replicated or
learned from.
Prototyping serves to provide specifications
for a real, working system rather than a
theoretical one.

Source: Wikipedia
 Conclusion
The challenges of chemical product design are
different from those of chemical process
design.
These challenges include dealing with
customer needs, screening alternatives, batch
processing, and the need for interdisciplinary
teams more than in chemical process design.
Thank you
 Test CHE620
When? 28/4/2014 (Monday), 8pm
Where? DK B
Chapter? Chp. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6