REDSTONE
ENGINEERING
03.
About
John Robinson has over 20 years’ experience in the scale-up of innovative process technologies for a range of application within energy, sustainability and the environment. He carried out his PhD in partnership with Shell, which culminated in the development and successful operation of a pilot-scale membrane separation system for the production of fuels for vehicle fleet trials. He was Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Nottingham until December 2022, during which time he established world-leading expertise in the development and scale up of microwave technology for challenging industrial applications, and led several programmes on Process Engineering Design. He amassed over 100 scientific journal publications, seven patents, and worked as a consultant to support a range of organisations with process scale-up and technology transfer. John currently leads Redstone Engineering, which builds on the foundation of his career at the University to now drive forward the successful industrial partnerships to commercial scale implementation.
01.
Process Engineering Scale-up
Successful process scale-up is about much more than replicating and upsizing individual steps from a laboratory scale setup. In most cases the direct replication approach will result in failure, especially if the process involves the handling of solids. The key to successful scale-up is to understand the primary effects that lead to commercial benefit, and the subsequent rate-limiting steps within the process. At this point a conceptual design formulation and evaluation process can be conducted, including preliminary economic and environmental evaluation and level 1 hazard study. Once the most suitable concept is chosen then a FEED design phase can commence, which is typically within the realm of EPC contracting organisation.
At Redstone Engineering we bridge the gap between laboratory scale systems and EPC organisations, providing everything from consultancy advice to whole-program leadership to the scale-up process.
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World-leading expertise in process engineering scale-up and microwave heating technologies.
02.
Microwave Heating
Microwaves can offer significant advantages over conventional heating due to the direct interactions between process materials and the electric field component of the microwave. As well as being electrically-driven (with the potential to be zero-carbon) the technology enables materials to be treated in much shorter times and using processes with a much lower footprint and capital cost than conventional alternatives. There are numerous other advantages that result from heating selectivity, which include mass transfer enhancements and alterations to chemical pathways that provide effects and outcomes that are unique to microwave heating and can derive considerable commercial benefit.
At Redstone Engineering we understand the fundamentals of the technology, how to scale it and how to derive commercial benefit from the effects. We have pioneered a highly successful approach to microwave scale up which puts the process engineer at the centre, with a system-level understanding that incorporates mechanical handling, process chemistry, vapour condensate handling and electromagnetics. We will find the right approach for a particular process, using a proven methodology of concept identification and evaluation, followed by FEED design and field-scale testing and implementation.
We have experience in the use of microwaves for continuous processes that include the processing of waste plastics, absorbate removal, hydrocarbon and other contaminant removal from mineral substances, extraction of valuable compounds from biomass and pyrolysis/gasification applications.
We have strong links to supply-chain partners for equipment design supply, measurement testing and pilot-scale trials.
04.
Contact
Redstone Engineering can support industry and academia with their process scale-up and/or microwave technology requirements.
For all enquiries please contact:
