(116a) Organizing the Experimental Order

A new process or product is an exciting undertaking.  Exploring the routes of reaction and the details of separating and purifying the final product is an adventure.  Safety considerations from lab to pilot scale and then finally to commercial operations must be first on everyone’s mind.    The experimental pathway is cloudy at first but as experiments are completed the data begins to the point the way.  An organized and structured experimental approach that leaves enough room for the exploration of new ideas must be balanced.  The complex Interdependencies of managing multiple experimental runs begins by taking some of the routine complexity out of the equation.  Analytical measurement enable the creation of the various correlations.  Results are confounded unless the analytical measurement methods can be confidently repeated and relied upon.  One of the best and simply structured, but wickedly complex, content tools is the mass and energy balance (MEB).   Keeping the run plans and results organized is critical so the correlations can be referenced to support investment, develop the project and defend intellectual property claims.