Scale (chemistry)
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The scale of a chemical process refers to the rough ranges in mass or volume of a chemical reaction or process that define the appropriate category of chemical apparatus and equipment required to accomplish it, and the concepts, priorities, and economies that operate at each. While the specific terms used—and limits of mass or volume that apply to them—can vary between specific industries, the concepts are used broadly across industry and the fundamental scientific fields that support them. Use of the term "scale" is unrelated to the concept of weighing; rather it is related to cognate terms in mathematics (e.g., geometric scaling, the
linear transformation In mathematics, and more specifically in linear algebra, a linear map (also called a linear mapping, linear transformation, vector space homomorphism, or in some contexts linear function) is a mapping V \to W between two vector spaces that pre ...
that enlarges or shrinks objects, and
scale parameter In probability theory and statistics, a scale parameter is a special kind of numerical parameter of a parametric family of probability distributions. The larger the scale parameter, the more spread out the distribution. Definition If a family o ...
s in
probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set o ...
), and in applied areas (e.g., in the scaling of images in architecture, engineering,
cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
, etc.). Practically speaking, the scale of chemical operations also relates to the training required to carry them out, and can be broken out roughly as follows: * procedures performed at the ''laboratory scale'', which involve the sorts of procedures used in academic teaching and research laboratories in the training of chemists and in discovery chemistry venues in industry, * operations at the ''
pilot plant A pilot plant is a pre-commercial production system that employs new production technology and/or produces small volumes of new technology-based products, mainly for the purpose of learning about the new technology. The knowledge obtained is then ...
scale'', e.g., carried out by process chemists, which, though at the lowest extreme of manufacturing operations, are on the order of 200- to 1000-fold larger than laboratory scale, and used to generate information on the behavior of each chemical step in the
process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...
that might be useful to design the actual chemical production facility; * intermediate ''bench scale'' sets of procedures, 10- to 200-fold larger than the discovery laboratory, sometimes inserted between the preceding two; * operations at ''demonstration scale'' and ''full-scale production'', whose sizes are determined by the nature of the chemical product, available chemical technologies, the market for the product, and manufacturing requirements, where the aim of the first of these is literally to demonstrate operational stability of developed manufacturing procedures over extended periods (by operating the suite of manufacturing equipment at the feed rates anticipated for commercial production). For instance, the production of the
streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, ''Burkholderia'' infection, plague, tularemia, and rat bite fever. Fo ...
-class of antibiotics, which combined biotechnologic and
chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
operations, involved use of a 130,000 liter
fermenter Industrial fermentation is the intentional use of fermentation in manufacturing products useful to humans. In addition to the mass production of fermented foods and drinks, industrial fermentation has widespread applications in chemical industry. ...
, an operational scale approximately one million-fold larger than the microbial
shake flask Shake may refer to: * Handshake * Milkshake * Tremor * Shakes (wood), cracks in timber * Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle made from split logs Shake, The Shakes, Shaking, or Shakin' may refer to: Geography * Shake, Zimbabwe * Shake, anothe ...
s used in the early laboratory scale studies.M.C.M. Hensing, R.J. Rouwenhorst, J.J. Heijnen, J.R van Dijken & J.T. Pronk, 1995, "Physiological and technological aspects of large-scale heterologous-protein production with yeasts," ''Antonie van Leeuwenhoek'' 67:261-279, esp. p. 263. As noted, nomenclature can vary between manufacturing sectors; some industries use the scale terms ''pilot plant'' and ''demonstration plant'' interchangeably. Apart from defining the category of chemical apparatus and equipment required at each scale, the concepts, priorities and economies that obtain, and the skill-sets needed by the practicing scientists at each, defining scale allows for theoretical work prior to actual plant operations (e.g., defining relevant process parameters used in the numerical simulation of large-scale production processes), and allows economic analyses that ultimately define how manufacturing will proceed. Besides the chemistry and biology expertises involved in scaling designs and decisions, varied aspects of
process engineering Process engineering is the understanding and application of the fundamental principles and laws of nature that allow humans to transform raw material and energy into products that are useful to society, at an industrial level. By taking advantage ...
and mathematical modeling, simulations, and
operations research Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve deci ...
are involved.


See also

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Medicinal chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developm ...
*
Process chemistry Process chemistry is the arm of pharmaceutical chemistry concerned with the development and optimization of a synthetic scheme and pilot plant procedure to manufacture compounds for the drug development phase. Process chemistry is distinguished fr ...
*
Pilot plant A pilot plant is a pre-commercial production system that employs new production technology and/or produces small volumes of new technology-based products, mainly for the purpose of learning about the new technology. The knowledge obtained is then ...
*
Chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
*
Process engineering Process engineering is the understanding and application of the fundamental principles and laws of nature that allow humans to transform raw material and energy into products that are useful to society, at an industrial level. By taking advantage ...
*
Operations research Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve deci ...


Further reading

* R. Dach, J. J. Song, F. Roschangar, W. Samstag & C.H. Senanayake, 2012, "The eight criteria defining a good chemical manufacturing process," ''Org. Process Res. Dev.'' 16:1697''ff'', DOI 10.1021/op300144g. * M. D. Johnson, S.A. May, J.R. Calvin, J. Remacle, J.R. Stout, W.D. Dieroad, N. Zaborenko, B.D. Haeberle, W.-M. Sun, M.T. Miller & J. Brannan, "Development and scale-up of a continuous, high-pressure, asymmetric hydrogenation reaction, workup, and isolation." ''Org. Process Res. Rev.'' 16:1017''ff'', DOI 10.1021/op200362h. * M. Levin, Ed., 2011, ''Pharmaceutical Process Scale-Up: Drugs and the Pharmaceutical'', 3rd edn., London, U.K.:Informa Healthcare, . * A.A. Desai, 2011, "Sitagliptin manufacture: a compelling tale of green chemistry, process intensification, and industrial asymmetric catalysis," ''Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.'' 50:1974''ff'', DOI 10.1002/anie.201007051. * M. Zlokarnik, 2006, ''Scale-up in Chemical Engineering,'' 2nd edn., Weinheim, Germany:Wiley-VCH, . * M.C.M. Hensing, R.J. Rouwenhorst, J.J. Heijnen, J.R van Dijken & J.T. Pronk, 1995, "Physiological and technological aspects of large-scale heterologous-protein production with yeasts," ''Antonie van Leeuwenhoek'' 67:261-279. * Karl A. Thiel, 2004, "Biomanufacturing, from bust to boom...to bubble?," ''Nature Biotechnology'' 22:1365-1372, esp. Table 1, DOI 10.1038/nbt1104-1365, se

accessed 15 February 2015. * Maximilian Lackner, Ed., 2009, ''Scale-up in Combustion,'' Wien, Austria:Process Engineering GmbH, .


References

{{reflist Chemistry Biochemistry Chemical engineering Chemical synthesis Medicinal chemistry Organic chemistry