Pilot Plant
The Pilot Plant was built in 1956 and at that time was called the Experimental Factory. It underwent a thorough refurbishment in 2006 and was inaugurated on 9 May 2011 as the Antonio Rius Pilot Plant.
The building adopts an L-shape on the ground floor, with a built area of about 1975 m2 (1674 m2 of usable area) distributed mainly on two floors, where the short side is known as the main pavilion, while the other larger, longitudinal, is intended to house the shed for the installation of large work equipment. At the intersection of the L, a 4-storey tower stands out, with a space for the installation of high-rise equipment, along with laboratories installed on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the tower. After its refurbishment, the Pilot Plant has become a building adapted to the different regulations that apply to it and equipped with excellent electricity installations (new transformer with single-phase and three-phase lines with and without stabilisation), sanitation and other services (compressed air, vacuum, steam, gases, voice and data...).
Research in Chemical Engineering requires a Pilot Plant. Process development, consisting of the transformation of basic laboratory data into operating parameters, can only be carried out using pilot plants. In other words, the results obtained in the laboratory cannot be directly extrapolated to the industrial scale, with few exceptions. Experimentation at an intermediate scale is necessary. This step, known as "scaling up", is therefore essential. Once the behaviour of the process or operation at this intermediate scale is known, it is possible to think about its industrial implementation and, if necessary, to complete the study of variables (results of the process according to its operating conditions) by means of process simulation software.
The Pilot Plant is currently being opened to the rest of the Departments of the Faculty in order to encourage collaboration with national and international researchers. We also want to continue with the development of processes clearly oriented to satisfy business needs.
In terms of teaching, students of the Chemical Engineering Degree do part of their internships in the pilot plant. Chemistry students also have the opportunity to visit these facilities to at least get an idea of the importance of this type of facility as a preliminary stage of industrial operation, as do secondary school students, who make numerous visits to this facility.
Information on the creation and renovation of the Pilot Plant can be found in its Historical Review.
