Conclusion

This article has presented the fundamental concepts governing the operation and design of batch plants in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Batch production is a mainstay of these sectors, characterized by batch processes involving numerous discrete decisions, particularly in workshops producing a wide variety of products. The concepts covered have been illustrated with case studies, enabling process engineering students, production engineers and workshop managers to better master them and apply them to new situations. The operation and design of batch plants were discussed from the angle of their common concepts, but also their specific features, particularly with regard to the time scale of the phenomena involved. This underlines the need for an optimized, integrated approach to the design and management of these processes.

Despite their appeal, batch...