Process development via a miniplant

The main reason for operating a miniplant is to study recycle loops. This article shows how the accumulation of a contaminant by recycling depends on the cumulative residence time, i.e. the number of recycles, on the rate of purging (the size of the ‘kidney’), on the relative position of the site where the contaminant is formed, on the number of contaminants, etc. This then decides the strategy for designing a miniplant. Two examples are illustrated in some detail.