A practical approach to recipe improvement and optimization in the batch processing industry

Traditionally, many industrial batch processes are operated according to rigid recipes, in spite of the fact that production would benefit from recipes that are efficiently adapted to changes in quality and cost of feedstocks, product requirements, process and scheduling conditions, and so on. This paper outlines the flexible recipe-approach to efficient development and improvement of master (control) recipes and to adjustment of control recipes during production. Design of experiments, process modelling and recipe optimization play a key role in the proposed approach. The application of the approach is illustrated on the basis of the industrial example: improving of the production of an alkyd resin at a large chemical company in The Netherlands. In this case, the old recipe, which was too expensive, was replaced by a cheaper one, for which the dosage of new ingredients had to be found. The modelling of the process also made possible the optimization of the process duration. Finally, a new correction rule was determined for situations in which the process does not progress as expected.