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Session Description:

Integrating Safety Into Technology Commercialization for Pilot Plant Scale-Up

April 9, 9:50 a.m., Room 229, Morial Convention Center, New Orleans

Moving from the laboratory to a pilot plant is a major milestone in commercializing novel chemical processes or products and introduces a new degree of risk. Understanding the purpose for piloting the technology, as well as schedule and costs are important considerations in the technology development. However, the impact of a safety event at the pilot plant scale can have serious repercussions to the technology development, especially costs and timing. It is important to involve individuals with diverse perspectives and experience to effectively evaluate the design and enable safe operating performance. By understanding the purpose and scope of the pilot operations, the inherent hazards, and expertise required, a systems safety approach can be developed that balances the hazards and consequences and guides the appropriate selection of safety review activities and tools. A well thought-out safety program will support all technical and business objectives in the technology development cycle.

A specialty at MATRIC | Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center is working with chemical companies to improve and create technologies used in production. The materials these chemical firms produce in turn generate hundreds of consumer products and create significant economic output.

MATRIC Chief Executive Steve Hedrick moderated during the 2013 Marcellus to Manufacturing (M2M) Ethane Development Conference in Charleston, W.Va. Discussion highlighted the potential resurgence of a previously waning chemical industry within the Northeast, reinvigorated by a burgeoning supply of shale gas, but still encumbered by a lack of regional production capabilities.

American Petroleum Institute Chief Economist John Felmy, MarkWest Eastern Regional VP Jim Crews and MATRIC CEO Steve Hedrick discuss “shale gas to chemicals to polymers.”

A great benefit of both the Marcellus and Utica shales is their relatively large deposits of natural gas liquids (NGLs), or “wet gas,” composed of higher molecular weight constituents and inclusive of large amounts of ethane. Additionally, large volumes of propane and butane are available. Hence, methane availability combined with NGLs represents a significant opportunity for chemical industry expansion in the region.

Ethane is the primary building block for ethylene, the largest industrial chemical in the world. Given the current lack of local chemical manufacturing demand for ethane, the resource is underutilized. The value chain associated with ethane and ethylene is significant, as it is used in production of more than 90% of consumer goods globally.

The M2M conference highlighted both public and private sector efforts to establish a renewed chemical industry in the Northeast, via workforce, infrastructure and investment initiatives.

2012 STAR Employee

One of MATRIC’s strong advantages in chemical R&D work is having our own scientific glassblower. Mike Hale has the well-earned reputation of being able to make almost any piece of specialty glassware needed for our projects. He also has an excellent relationship with glassware vendors and has many times helped specify and acquire special equipment needed, with low cost and quick delivery.  Just during the past year, he has made major contributions to a number of significant projects.

In addition to his glass work, Mike is frequently called on for help on a variety of crafts. He is always willing to help and do anything he can to keep our lab and pilot facilities functional and efficient. Mike goes above and beyond to assist co-workers, customers and vendors, whatever the request.  His attitude exemplifies teamwork and professionalism.  For his many contributions to the MATRIC enterprise, we recognize Mike Hale as a 2012 Star Employee.

2012 STAR Board Member

This MATRIC STAR Board Member was among the original members of the MATRIC Board and has been a consistent face and contributor in multiple MATRIC activities — very often on incredibly short notice.  Bill Goode is not only a member of the MATRIC Board, but also of the MATRIC Executive Committee, the MAH Board of Directors and represents MAH on the boards of two MAH start-up companies.  He currently serves as a board member of SGA Polymers and Liberty Hydro.  He also served on the recent CEO selection committee.  He has brought great input and value to these activities and has served many, many hours with a smile and demeanor that only he can bring.  Because of his consistent dedication to our community and to the mission and people of MATRIC, we honor Bill Goode as the 2012 STAR Board Member.

BioAmber
One of the companies most influential in MATRIC’s growth over its lifetime has been BioAmber. Correspondingly, MATRIC has played a significant role in helping BioAmber grow from a very small organization to an increasingly self-sufficient commercial operation. MATRIC’s contributions have included novel process concepts, laboratory proof of concept, pilot-scale demonstration, and engineering design. Although most of MATRIC’s staff have supported BioAmber projects at some level, we want to recognize those who have been most involved. Over the past four years, these MATRIC and MATE staff members have each logged more than 2,000 hours on BioAmber projects:

Brooke Albin  |  Christine Cochran  |  Larry Dixon  |  Kevin Elkins
Bill Etzkorn  |  David Fisher  |  Stan Fruchey  |  Brian Keen
Chuck Moyers  |  Ramona Neal  |  Jeremy Rader  |  Kevin Roy
Jim Withrow  |  Rick Zitzelberger

2012 Pilot Plant Project
MATRIC has been a key partner of this customer as they advance toward commercialization of their technology. A significant milestone for MATRIC was the installation and operation of our first pilot plant in Building 771, which was designed and constructed for this project. This activity was completed on schedule and well under budget, which resulted in a significant financial advantage for both the customer and MATRIC. Although he was not as involved as some others in the actual pilot plant construction, we want to recognize Lou Kapicak’s critical role in this activity. Without his early stage lab work and process development contributions, which developed our credibility with the customer, we would not have had the pilot plant opportunity to begin with. We want to recognize the team involved, and in particular, those who worked more than 150 hours on the construction and first run of this unit:

Larry Dixon  |  Kim Hayson  |  Quinton Johnson  |  Lou Kapicak
David King  |  Art Lucas  |  Jeremy Lucas  |  John Matheny
Jeremy Rader

A series of activities are required to foster innovation in the chemical industry. One of the most critical first steps is to determine if a technology is commercially viable.

This discipline is known as “techno-economics,” in which an expert team analyzes the variables required to introduce a new innovation into the marketplace, which include costs and conditions of research, development, process scale-up, raw materials, engineering, etc. These assessments help derive target goals and informed economic modeling.

Many companies conduct little or no techno-economic evaluation, but the procedure is standard at Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center. “This mindset is commonsense, but not always common within industry, it’s a commitment to doggedly estimating what it takes to win in the chemical marketplace,” said MATRIC Chief Technology Officer Parvez Wadia.

While effective techno-economic modeling is continuous throughout a project’s life cycle, early identification of potential hurdles and rigorous performance targets is most important. “Sometimes failures are good, but you want them to occur quickly, so that modifications can be made to put the effort back on course,” according to Wadia.

“Just because something is technically possible doesn’t mean it will be commercially successful. However, by assessing all economic variables throughout the development process, we can significantly increase the likelihood that a project will generate value in the marketplace,” he concluded.

Steve Hedrick, MATRIC President and CEO

Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center Inc. (MATRIC) has appointed Steven B. Hedrick as president and chief executive officer, effective Feb. 1, 2013. He succeeds Keith Pauley, who resigned to work in China. The selection concludes an exhaustive six month search process.

Hedrick has an extensive industry background, most recently as vice president and head of Bayer CropScience’s Institute Industrial Park, located in West Virginia. Additionally, he has held previous positions of increasing responsibility at Bayer MaterialScience and Lyondell.

“Steve brings a proven record of successful leadership in large and complex environments. We are convinced he is uniquely positioned to lead us into the future,” said MATRIC board of directors Chairman Paul Arbogast.

Hedrick currently serves on the board of directors for several organizations, including the West Virginia Manufacturers Association (WVMA), Charleston Area Alliance, Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce, and Kanawha County Metro-911. He is immediate past chair of the WVMA’s Chemical Industry Committee, which serves as West Virginia’s Chemical Industry Council.

His entry into the chemical industry followed service as an officer in the United States Army. A native of West Virginia, Hedrick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Since June, MATRIC Chief Operating Officer Greg Clutter served as interim president and CEO. “Greg has done all that has been asked of him and more,” noted Arbogast. “We greatly appreciated his ability to manage throughout this juncture and we are delighted he is continuing as COO.”

Given the complexities associated with creating new products and processes, chemical companies must carefully select partners with the knowledge and resources to enable safe, economical, and timely entrance into the marketplace.

How does a company move from concept into the realm of actual commercialization? If large enough, the following steps could be completed internally, but often a company may lack the experience, expertise and facilities required to successfully create and/or scale-up a technology.

The first step is validation of the concept, which requires demonstrating the technology that is key to the value creating idea, either process or product.

That chemical process technology is then scaled-up, moving from the bench level, to the laboratory level, to the pilot level, and ultimately the commercial scale. Each stage of development is planned so the most critical technology unknowns and risks are resolved at the appropriate scale, to obtain detailed design information.

The detailed design information is then compiled into a design document that is referred to as a licensing package. The licensing package is a detailed report that includes:

• Process Description
• Process Flow Sheets
• Detailed Material & Energy Balance
• Equipment List, including design details
• Control Strategy
• Environmental Health & Safety

The licensing package is a complete process description that can then be handed off to an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company to build the plant.

Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center is uniquely qualified to serve customers that seek such skill sets, because of the varied experience and knowledge of its staff and the world-class test facilities available at its headquarters in South Charleston, W.Va.

The depth of MATRIC’s expertise in chemical product research, product development, process improvement, process safety, engineering and manufacturing is not unique in and of each element, but rather because all these disciplines are concentrated in one organization. This anomaly sets MATRIC apart. A company might have to interact with five or more service providers to obtain a similar level of expertise. Applying this broad perspective enables MATRIC to move products from concept to commercialization at a speed which creates a competitive advantage for our customers.

Experience is an important component at Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center, and Charles “Chuck” Moyers, Ph.D., is a noteworthy example of MATRIC’s depth of knowledge. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and an internationally recognized expert in operations including solution and melt crystallization, drying, and liquid/solid separation.

In his 35-year career with Union Carbide Corp., he managed engineering and R&D functions for a variety of assignments, primarily in chemical process design, new product development and separations/process fundamentals.

He is currently supporting several MATRIC projects involving solids processing. As an example, Moyers led a project for the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, which required development of reaction technology that converted a biobased raw material into crude isosorbide. Crystallization techniques were used to recover and purify the isosorbide, which is used to produce polymers and other industrial products.

Several factors influenced his decision to join MATRIC in 2005, including access to equipment, technicians, and pilot plants that allowed him to work on projects that he could not have fulfilled independently. According to Moyers, he appreciates the challenge of experimentation, working with customers to create marketable products, and the flexibility of providing outsourced process development.

The author of several textbooks on crystallization and solids processing, Moyers also serves as a mentor to early and mid-career staff at MATRIC.

Companies continuously seek advantage in their fields, and the chemical industry is particularly competitive.

Consider the race to economically produce bio-based materials. Composed of living organisms like yeast and enzymes, they serve as an alternative to fossil-based resources, and can be used as feedstock components for various consumer products.

Because oil prices continue to rise, advances in biotechnology hold significant potential to provide substitutes in place of traditional raw materials.

If this were an easy task, then all companies would immediately switch to making “green” products. However, new and effective methods of bio-based production require investment, research and engineering.

In this regard Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center provides the know how to test whether specific biomaterials are feasible for commercial production by undertaking a series of work that includes laboratory, pilot scale, and small scale production levels.

One of the processes undertaken by MATRIC for these purposes is crystallization, a technique for removing a substance from a solution in a solid form. For example, salt is removed from seawater by evaporating water, precipitating (or crystallizing) the salt and recovering the salt from the water/salt slurry. Sugar is recovered from water solutions by cooling a solution until sugar precipitates.

Many industrial materials, which can be used for commercial purposes, are recovered as solids from solution by crystallization techniques.

Crystallization is a powerful purification technique, since growing crystals tend to exclude impurities and a particulate product is produced. The practice of crystallization is highly complex and tends to be more experienced based rather than theoretical.

MATRIC is uniquely qualified in this discipline given its experienced personnel and experimental equipment (both laboratory and pilot plant scale), along with the analytical backup to conduct timely and sophisticated evaluation of proposed processes.

For more information contact MATRIC’s director of product and process R & D.