In industries such as chemical engineering and energy, the journey from innovative concepts to large-scale commercial production is often fraught with challenges. Achieving technological success requires not only rigorous laboratory validation but also ensuring economic feasibility. It is against this backdrop that the DODGEN Pilot Base was established. Serving as a critical link between the laboratory and commercial production, it helps enterprises mitigate risks, accelerate technology transfer, and bring innovative achievements to fruition.
Laboratory System: The Starting Point of Innovation
The development of any innovative process begins in the laboratory. At this stage, engineers use flexible, small-scale experimental equipment to precisely control process parameters such as temperature and pressure, exploring and determining key factors like reaction conditions, product selectivity, and yield. While the small scale of laboratory equipment allows for quick adjustments and optimization of process conditions, its testing scale limits the validation of complex processes and cannot fully simulate the challenges that may arise in commercial production.
Pilot Base: The Key Link from Laboratory to Commercialization
Laboratory testing can only provide preliminary process information, and the real challenge lies in verifying its operability on a larger scale. The DODGEN Pilot Base was established for this very purpose. The base uses pilot-scale equipment to simulate the complex conditions of commercial production, verifying the stability and operability of the process. It not only offers enterprises a process environment closer to commercial production but also helps identify potential issues such as catalyst lifespan and material recovery through extended operation tests.
The DODGEN Pilot Base uses raw materials and process flows that align with commercial production, covering multiple steps such as reaction, separation, and polymerization, ensuring that complex issues that cannot be simulated in the laboratory phase are exposed and optimized during the pilot phase. This comprehensive testing approach significantly reduces uncertainties in commercial production, ensuring a smoother production process in the future. Successful pilot tests not only indicate that the enterprise has found the optimal process but also provide valuable data support for subsequent demonstration plants.
Modular Testing Platform: Flexibly Responding to Future Demands
The DODGEN Pilot Base not only meets the testing needs of current projects but also reserves ample space for future technological developments. The base adopts a modular design concept, allowing the testing platform to be freely configured according to different process requirements, providing flexible infrastructure for future process improvements and validation.
Modular skid-mounted equipment integrates various process units, enabling rapid adaptation to new process development needs while continuing to serve in future technological iterations. This scalable design greatly improves the efficiency of equipment use, helps enterprises save significant time and costs, and enhances their competitiveness in future markets.
Demonstration Plant: The Final Step to Commercialization
Although pilot-scale equipment can effectively validate most processes, some complex processes still require further testing. By generating large quantities of finished product samples at the demonstration plant, enterprises can better understand market demand and further optimize the process based on feedback. This stage provides valuable market validation for future commercial production, ensuring that the technology not only meets standards but also satisfies actual market needs.
DODGEN Ningdong Shared Pilot Platform
The DODGEN Ningdong Pilot Base, located in the Ningdong Modern Coal Chemical Industry Base, focuses on key technologies for green chemistry. Since its establishment in 2021, the base has not only supported DODGEN’s internal R&D projects in scaling up and testing but has also actively taken on external industrialization verification work, covering areas such as biodegradable plastics, bio-based materials, and high-performance materials.
The base’s modular skid-mounted equipment, such as falling film reactors, distillation separation, and high-throughput microreactors, are freely combinable like building blocks, providing enterprises with fast and reliable process verification. This design not only shortens the time from laboratory development to commercialization but also lays a solid foundation for deep collaboration between DODGEN and its clients.
Conclusion
From innovative concepts to commercial production, the DODGEN Pilot Base provides enterprises with a complete validation and scaling pathway through its flexible laboratory facilities and reliable pilot-scale equipment. At each stage of technological development, the DODGEN Pilot Base helps enterprises mitigate risks, save costs, and accelerate the realization of innovative achievements with its modular design and advanced testing capabilities. With the support of the DODGEN Pilot Base, enterprises can quickly transform ideas into reality and move towards successful commercialization.
