What is Process Intensification?

Process Intensification (PI) was originally conceived in ICI as "the reduction of process plant volumes by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude"

The target at the time was the reduction of capital costs, primarily by minimising equipment installation factors which involve piping, support structures etc. It has since become apparent that a rigorously pursued strategy of PI has far wider benefits than mere capex reduction, and its definition has accordingly been softened to include very significant plant size reductions based upon revolutionary or "step-out" new technology. What PI is NOT is a merely evolutionary "apple-polishing" exercise of incremental development. Two examples of PI illustrate its philosophy.

Higee invented about 25 years ago by Prof. Colin Ramshaw when at ICI, represented a revolutionary change in process plant size reduction - in the words of Bart Drinkenburg of the major chemical company, DSM, able to reduce distillation columns the..."size of Big Ben, to a few metres in height". On the other hand the compact heat exchanger in the form of the printed circuit/diffusion bonded unit was developed by Tony Johnstone about the same time as Higee. This approach is now recognised as the design basis of microreactors, where the fine channels promote both rapid heat and mass transfer, and give the unit a powerful multifunctional capability.

The benefits of PI have extended far beyond the CAPEX reductions envisaged 25 years ago. The iron grip which can now be imposed upon the fluid dynamic environment within a reactor means that improved selectivities and conversions can usually be achieved. The advantages may be summarised as:-

1) Better product quality
2) Just-in-time manufacture becomes feasible with ultra-short residence times.
3) Distributed (rather than centralised) manufacture may become economic
4) Lower waste levels reduce downstream purification costs and are conducive to "Green" manufacture
5) Smaller inventories lead to improved intrinsic safety.
6) Better control of process irreversibilities can lead to lower energy use.

PI can help companies and others meet all of these demands, in the process industries and in other sectors.

PIN assists companies to compete, and helps researchers target successful research goals. PIN helps students to gain an awareness of PI for future use in their employment.

Technologies making PI possible, case studies and applications, opportunities for collaborative projects, and access to research and demonstration funding programmes are among the topics discussed within PIN, the Process Intensification Network.