Robust and affordable process control technologies for improving standards and optimising industrial operations (ProPAT)
At a glance
- Project leader : Dr. Ed Wieland Sebastian Opitz, Prof. Dr. Chahan Yeretzian
- Project team : René Itten, Babette Klopprogge, Matthias Stucki
- Project budget : CHF 484'804
- Project status : completed
- Funding partner : EU and other international programmes (Horizon 2020 / Projekt Nr. 637232)
- Contact person : Ed Wieland Sebastian Opitz
Description
The Process Industries require a high degree of automation, monitoring, and advanced simulation and controlfor their often complex manufacturing processes and operations. Emphasis is on continuous or batch production,mixing, reaction and separation of materials of higher value. Indeed, increased globalisation and competition aredrivers for process analytical technologies (PAT) that enable seamless process control, greater flexibility and costefficiency.ProPAT aims to develop novel sensors and analysers for providing measurements on composition, particlesize and local bulk properties, as well as more traditional but smart sensors for measuring other process parameters,such as temperature, flowrate, pressure, etc., and integrate them into a versatile global control platform for dataacquisition, data processing & mining and User Interface in order to measure properties of process streams andproducts, accurately and in real-time. The platform also provides self-learning and predictive capabilities aimed fordramatically reducing overcosts derived from even slight deviations from the optimum process.Low cost MEMS-NIRspectroscopic and granulometric analysers, smart sensors for in batch and in continuous processes will be developedand integrated into the global control platform with the chemometric tools and the predictive software to deliver anintegrated process control platform. ProPAT will enable near real time closed-loop process control to operate industrialprocesses at their optimum, both economically and environmentally, while ensuring high levels of quality. It will alsoallow the uptake of the Quality by Design for continuous process improvement. The project results will be validated indifferent processes and applications including milling of minerals, ceramics, metals, mixing and granulation of pharmaproducts and polymerization of resins, and will represent a major step forward towards more efficient, reliable andsustainable industrial operation.