Lead Scientist
Voice: 215-233-6580/6579
Fax: 215-233-6406
e-mail:
khicks@errc.ars.usda.gov
Engineering
Scale-Up, Process and
Economics Research Support Group
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Dr. Kevin B. Hicks Lead Scientist Voice: 215-233-6580/6579 |
Engineering
Scale-Up, Process and |
|
|
Objectives: Provide research support in the commercialization of new processes and products developed in ARS’s laboratories through process scale up and process economic research. The Engineering Scale-Up, Process and Economics Research (SUPER) Support Group Unit has the Agency's only process engineering unit with the facilities and expertise to do pilot plant research involving basic theoretical investigations, process development, scale-up, simulation and economic feasibility studies. Processes are developed at the bench and pilot scale to make the technology directly transferable to a broad range of end-users and bridging the gap between laboratory and industry. The unit provides research support to Chemists, Microbiologists, Food Technologists, Plant Physiologists, and Engineering Research Programs at ARS. Customers: In priority order, the SUPER group applies its unique equipment, facilities, capabilities, and personnel to support the research mission of:
Note: The SUPER group is not a "fee for service" contract organization. Only research activities which do not compete with commercial laboratories and pilot plants are pursued. Click for a SUPER group support form. Resources: ERRC has one of the most unique and completely equipped food, chemical, dairy, biochemical, and industrial pilot plants in the Federal and Non-commercial sectors. Approximately 19,000 square feet of specialized space is dedicated to these facilities. A complete on-line catalog of equipment can be seen here. Equipment categories include:
Unique capabilities:
Unique personnel:
Examples of Research Support Provided:
|
|
|
Rich Radewonuk, 215-233-6496
Jhanel Wilson, 215-233-6635
Gerard Senske, 215-233-6728
Michael Dallmer, 215-233-6509
Richard Cook, 215-233-6415
|
1. Pilot Plant Facilities and Equipment for Production Run and Scale-Up
The ERRC pilot plant facilities are a grouping of unique resources at the Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, PA, dedicated to greater utilization of agricultural products. At these facilities new processes developed by ARS scientists and engineers and their partners are scaled-up and new products under development are produced to support testing and evaluation programs. Descriptions of the equipment available at the ERRC pilot plant is available here.
|
|
|
Neil Goldberg, 215-233-6590
Kenneth Todd, 215-233-3771
John Morphew, 215-233-6522
Mike Mandel, 215-233-6522
Kenneth Schafer, 215-233-6522
|
2. Equipment Design and Development
Equipment design is performed at all levels. Designs may modify existing equipment to support new program goals, develop prototype equipment in the development of new processing operations, or may be somewhere in between those extremes. Frequently new equipment is installed with special features necessary to function as research tools. Installation designs are also tailored to the unique requirements of the processing researcher. Designs include mechanical, electrical, piping, controls, and any other discipline required by the research. Key to the accomplishment of this mission is the machine shop. It features lathes, milling machines, surface and rotary grinders, drill presses, arbor presses, and a large volume of tooling. Fabrication equipment includes flame, saw, and plasma cutting equipment, and GTAW, SMAW, Mig, gas and stud welding equipment. The personnel are frequent participants during actual research runs translating their experiences into improvements to the research apparatus. Only a portion of the processing equipment available is installed at any
given time. The design and development group maintains all of the equipment
in a ready status to be installed quickly as needs emerge. Frequently
equipment is modified to meet the new requirement. A catalog of the major
equipment available can be accessed
here.
The group recommends equipment purchases, upgrades, and replacements to
support the known and anticipated needs of the researchers. The overall
layout of the Pilot Plants is reviewed and modified to utilize the available
resources over the broadest group possible. |
|
|
Andrew McAloon, 215-233-6619
Winnie Yee, 215-233-6717
|
3. Process and Cost Simulation
Cost studies are also developed to determine the projected cost of different methods of processing new and existing agricultural products. These models support programs throughout ARS and are also used by ARS engineers and scientists to help predict the economic impact of their research Biofuels Research ARS is engaged in a program to reduce the overall cost of producing biofuels. To support this research, models have been developed that describe in detail the ethanol and biodiesel production process and the cost associated with them. These models are based on information provided by biofuels producers, plant designers, and other industry experts and reflect current production practices and are used by ARS engineers and scientist in determining the economic consequences of studied process. Biofuel, Process and Cost Models Available from ARS |
|
|
Michael Kurantz, 215-233-6451
Robyn Moten, 215-233-6510 |
Mission The analytical laboratory provides support for pilot plant scale research programs by analyzing and reporting data obtained from samples generated by researchers investigating new processes/products derived from agricultural commodities. Laboratory Capabilities/Instrumentation
Chromatography HPLC
GC
TLC
Spectroscopy
Elemental Analysis
Current Research Programs Support by the Analytical Laboratory
|
|
| Updated: September 12, 2005 | ||
The design and development group supports research programs directly by
specifying and recommending equipment that can be utilized for a specific
processing requirement, designing new equipment or modifying existing
equipment, and maintaining responsibility for major equipment from cradle to
grave.
Process and process cost analysis research
support are provided by the Engineering Scale-Up and Economic Research
(SUPER) Support Group
to provide support to ARS scientists and engineers in determining research
direction and the projected economic prospects for processes that will
result from ongoing and proposed research.
