Brussels, Brussels Region, Belgium
More than 30 years of process engineering in all its aspects: from experimental design in order to get reliable data for scale up, passing through process design for pilot and full industrial scale, thorough literature reviews and plant start ups, debottleneckings and toll producer selections and audits, process safety analysis and intellectual property defending by patents filling, suppliers offers technical revision and many many other topics.
Main activities - Process development: - Process Flow Diagrams - Material and Heat Balance (MS Excel or Aspen+) - Main Equipment calculations and Specifications - Equipment List - Process Safety Analysis - Discussions with Suppliers - Assistance to Engineering and Purchase Departments - Commissioning - Start-up - Toll-producer evaluation Main achievements: Robust knowledge of main unitary operations, wide acquaintance of principal chemical equipment allowed to deliver always on time the deliverables. The capacity to find missing data for scale-up in literature allowed to skip research scale and to design a new section on scratch, saving enormous costs. Good interpersonal communication skills allowed to establish profitable collaboration with the toll producer, to help them to adopt existing lines to our particular needs and to produce in-spec product respecting the project time scheduling.
As a Leader of a small group of process engineers successfully completed numerous projects based on proprietary processes in the field of Process development: (polymer for fuel cells membranes; adsorption processes; special polymer production in clean rooms) - process simulation - process design - PFD - M&HB - safety design - P&IDs - Equipment Specifications - Start-up - Follow-up - Debottlenecking - Quality and Environmental aspects Main achievements: Deep understanding of the fundamental principles of basic operations and scale-up principles (confirmed by patent) allowed to skip additional laboratory and pilot trials and to fulfil huge customer order with high profitability (tenths of M€) Critical approach to new processes and creativity in the field of chemical engineering allowed to develop more simple and more competitive process, save on investments by avoiding expensive equipment materials and simplify the process scheme. The result was achieved in a terrific team work with Research, Process Engineering and Pilots. Some aspects of the process are also protected by Patent. Interdisciplinary approach on process design and weighted risk acceptance on process scale up allowed to design and build in time the "jewellery of the crown" new plant for high added value product. The plant, with its brilliant exterior aspect (concept of "Show room" proposed and accepted) favourably influenced customers on signing always increasing contracts.
Main activities: As a Leader of a small group of Process Engineers assured the Process development in different plants. Main tasks of the group: - Process design - Process Simulation - PFD - M&HB - Equipment Specifications - Process Safety Analysis - Debottlenecking - Plant assistance - Quality Control - Environmental Issues Main achievements: New promising surface treatment product production was successfully scaled up to industrial level. All safety aspects were addressed, new process asset was proposed, tested and scaled up to industrial level (continuous inline mixing instead of multiple batch operations). Enormous investment (some M€) was avoided due to this agile and smart technological innovation. Fruitful collaboration with R&D department brought to successful scale-up of quality improvement process modifications (product discoloration), possible safety issues were addressed.
Plant assistance. Process development. - process simulation - process design - PFD - M&HB - safety design - P&IDs - Equipment Specifications - Start-up - Follow-up - Debottlenecking - Quality and Environmental aspects Followed the preparation of industrial campaign of new promising monomer production. Successfully conducted campaign. With his deep understanding of process chemistry also supported by proactive participation in specific chemistry Congresses proposed to change dangerous operation conditions to move into the intrinsically safe range. Such a modification allowed to safely conduct the campaign and was incorporated into all followed industrial developments of the process. Made an exhaustive literature study and proposed the process for the abatement of dangerous by-product present in the industrial process. That allowed to skip the potentially dangerous laboratory studies and to build directly the pilot unit. Personally conducted the pilot trials and obtained the relevant data that were used to successfully realize the industrial scale investment. Proposed to valorise the industrial waste and to produce the extremely huge added value product from it (electron scavenger for IC production). Designed necessary modifications to the plant and organized the production campaign. As the result new outstanding product was brought to the market and pushed the society to the first place on the market. Enormous profits were realized.