How to conduct process calculations during the new product design process?
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After the successful pilot testing of a new product, how should the process calculations in the design be carried out? New products often lack process data and parameters; how can material and energy balances be performed with accuracy?
First, design the process, then carry out material balance; some data such as yields can be estimated based on experimental values. The second step is heat balance.
In fact, the pilot-scale testing process represents the initial version of your manufacturing process. First, get familiar with this pilot-scale testing process by recording everything that you think is useful, such as time, temperature, pressure, material composition, as well as details related to heat transfer and indoor humidity and temperature. Next, draw up a flow diagram to determine the initial conditions for your design, including production capacity, site requirements, and external factors such as funding, climate conditions, and geographical aspects. Then, establish a material balance. After that, determine the conditions at the inlet and outlet of each process unit, and carry out heat balance calculations. Based on these heat balance calculations, revise the material balance, and then revise the heat balance calculations again—repeating this 2–3 times will help identify many issues. Once these problems are resolved, redo the material and heat balance calculations; at this point, the process parameters and equipment dimensions are generally determined. Then, the plans and designs are prepared in accordance with traditional design codes. The design of the entire new product has just been completed. Hope it’s useful!