Page 145 - Analysis, Synthesis and Design of Chemical Processes, Third Edition

Therefore, although the profitability criteria that will be discussed in Chapter 10 can be used to evaluate
the economics of chemical products, the details of the analysis may change. Years of research and
development costs are included as capital costs. However, remember that there may be ten to fifteen years
of such costs, and the time value of money requires that the price charged for the product must be high to
obtain a favorable rate of return. Furthermore, there is risk with developing new products. One way to
include risk in the profitability calculations that will be discussed in Chapter 10 is to increase the desired
rate of return, which also increases the price of the product. (This is similar to the practice of lending
institutions charging more for a loan to consumers with weaker credit histories, because they are poorer
credit risks.)

4.8 Summary

The challenges of chemical product design are different from those of chemical process design. These

challenges include dealing with customer needs, screening alternatives, batch processing and scheduling,
and the need for interdisciplinary teams more than in chemical process design. This chapter has been only
a brief introduction to chemical product design. The major issues have been introduced, and examples
have been presented to illustrate these principles. The readers interested in a more detailed treatment of
product design should consult references [1], [3], and [4].

References

1. Cussler, E. L., and G. D. Moggridge, Chemical Product Design (New York: Cambridge,
2001).

2. Cussler, E. L., “Do Changes in the Chemical Industry Imply Changes in Curriculum?”
Chem. Engr. Educ. 33, no. 1 (1999) 12–17.

3. Dym, C. L., and P. Little, Engineering Design: A Project-Based Introduction (New York:
Wiley, 2000).

4. Ulrich, K. T., and S. D. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, 4th ed. (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2008).

5. Fogler, H. S., and S. E. LeBlanc, Strategies for Creative Problem Solving (Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995), 49.

6. Shaeiwitz, J. A., and R. Turton, “Chemical Product Design,” Topical Conference
Proceedings, Chemical Engineering in the New Millennium—A First-Time Conference
on Chemical Engineering Education, 2000, 461–468.

7. Shaeiwitz, J. A., and R. Turton, “Chemical Product Design,” Chem. Engr. Educ. 35, no. 4
(2001): 280–285.

8. http://www.cemr.wvu.edu/~wwwche/publications/projects/index.html.