The Virtual Product-Process Design Laboratory as a Tool for Product Development

The objective of this paper is to present a virtual laboratory for chemical product-process design (virtual PPD-lab) where users can test their design ideas on model-based computer-aided tools before performing experiments to validate the designed product. Design alternatives for products and processes matching a priori defined targets can be generated and verified through the PPD-lab. The significance of this virtual laboratory is that the experimental effort in the development of new products and processes can be drastically reduced and attention can be focused on few alternatives; as a consequence, time and resources can be spared. This paper highlights a new feature of the virtual PPD-lab which handles the design of mixtures. Through a case study dealing with a coating formulation, the application of this new feature is illustrated.