Presented Problem: Sales forecast exceeds capacity, build reactor system to meet demand
History: Process had been worked on for 31 years by numerous chemists and chemical engineers and my technical peers felt the process was optimized.
Core Problem: Process ran 2 reactions in series (A then B) in same batch reactor. The reactor was under 15% full till the last ~20% of the cycle time.
Process Results: Split reactions with transfers to storage. Run 1 full lot of A followed by 7 full lots of B. This tripled throughput in same reactor.
Business Result: Revised project required $21 million less in capital and ½ as much manpower while cutting work-in-progress inventory from 53 days down to 27 days.
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Bloomdahl Engineering 