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Special Design Considerations for Pilot Plants
Zeton's Paul Martin draws on 750+ pilot-plant projects to explain why pilot plants need a different design approach than scaled-down commercial systems - covering design parameters, materials selection, modular skid construction, and heat integration.
Written by Paul Martin, Program Manager and Senior Technical Fellow at Zeton, this whitepaper explains why a pilot plant needs its own design approach rather than being treated as a miniaturized commercial plant - its job is to generate process knowledge, not production volume.
Drawing on Zeton's experience across more than 750 pilot-plant projects, it covers setting design parameters from simulation and lab data, choosing pressure/temperature ratings through breakpoint analysis, selecting materials of construction with an eye on corrosion resistance, keeping the plant simple enough to control cost and schedule, and how physical properties scale differently across different unit operations.
It makes the case for early multidisciplinary collaboration, flexible parametric design over rigid corporate specs, and modular skid-based construction, with practical guidance on heat integration, rotating equipment, and tubing systems along the way. Written for process engineers, technology developers, and project managers running pilot-scale development programs.