Efficient engineering by modularization into package units

Abstract

The development of efficient engineering methods is an objective of many current research activities. One of the main areas of focus in this context is modularization and standardization in order to reduce project execution time. The intellectual key issue of this approach is the definition of modules that can be reused in a multitude of plant designs, thereby gaining efficiency in comparison to individually created designs. The paper describes an approach to configure any plant design for vendor offers based on customer requests concerning varying capacities, product specifications, plant locations and individual modifications. The novel idea is to assemble a set of tools that allows for a direct connection of 3D plant layouts and the corresponding cost calculations. Ultimately, it is aiming to be able to calculate the equipment size by using a process simulation tool in accordance with defined capacities and the local boundaries of the construction site. As a first proof of principle for the concept HPLC technical plants in a scale of 150 to 1000 mm ID are presented and discussed. © 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.