Chemie Ingenieur Technik, Vol.76, No.8, 1051-1064, 2004
Product design - Possibilities of product design
The development of high-performance chemical products tailored to a concrete application is done either by making deliberate changes to a particular molecular structure (product engineering) or by adding auxiliary agents, formulations or mixtures (product design). Product design, besides the design proper, also includes the optimized application of the product. For solids it is exemplified by granulation and coating and discussed in concrete terms for the quality adjustment in the paper industry, and for the design of pasta products. Melts can take any desired shape when extruded, such as films, strands, fibers, hollow or solid bodies (bottles, tubes, sections) or they can be processed by dropping/spraying to produce powders, granulates, flakes, pearls or lozenges. The adjustment the desired properties for liquid products is described for the example of non-ionic surfactants and product design is shown for milk and for an oil. The combination of the two product dimensions is presented for the paint industry. Some design possibilities for suspensions, pastes and solutions are demonstrated by the drying of matrix-encapsulated enzymes, the production of zeolite and the processing of ceramic compounds.