The Chemical Engineer Enhanced Product Development Through Experimental Design

Optimisation of the development cycle for new products is a challenge in the chemical industry. Steel, which in many ways is analogous to chemicals, is produced using a long chain of interdependent process steps. Consequently, large volumes of experiments are required to fully explore process parameter relations. This is more critical for new, highly differentiated products for which understanding of the underlying physical principles is incomplete and thus a-priori exclusion of factors not possible. In this context, the use of statistical Design of Experiments (DOE) to shorten development timescale, maximize the output of experimental capacity and minimize material consumption is essential.