Short presentation

Stefan Sievers studied biochemical engineering at the TU Dortmund. Beginning in 2003, he graduated in 2009 with a diploma thesis dealing with the process synthesis and development for the extraction of terpenes from complex raw material mixtures. Since November 2009 he works as scientific assistant at the Laboratory of Plant and Process Design at the Technical University of Dortmund. His research deals with benchmarking of a new process concept, that is being developed within an European project.

Research

Emerging nations are competing Europe more and more concerning large scale chemical production because mostly production is cheaper and there is a potentially bigger flexibility. To strengthen Europes position at the long term, there is a need for technological advance. Processes can be improved by single step improvements like process intensification or the use of biotechnology. But, to gain a competitive advantage, a holistic process improvement must be achieved. This addresses the total process including process development, raw material usage, energy demand, staffing requirements, logistics and time-to-market. That means a new concept for chemical plants is needed.
Currently, such a concept is being developed within a European project, incorporating 16 companies and 12 universities respectively institutes: The F³-Plant - "Flexible, Fast and Future Production Processes".

The research aims at defining scenarios for the application of the F³ concept on multi purpose plants. This is followed by a determination of targets for the F³ concept to overcome technological and economical barriers of the existing production. In parallel, a tool is being developed that yields a performance assessment of the F³ concept against traditional plant concepts.

Publications

Paper

• C. Bramsiepe, S. Sievers, T. Seifert, G.D. Stefanidis, D.G. Vlachos, H. Schnitzer, B. Muster, C. Brunner, J.P.M. Sanders, M.E. Bruins, G. Schembecker
  Low-cost small scale processing technologies for production applications in various environments—Mass produced factories
  Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification
• T. Seifert, S. Sievers, C. Bramsiepe, G. Schembecker
  Small Scale, Modular and Continuous: A new approach in plant design
  Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification

Oral presentations

• S. Sievers, T. Seifert, C. Bramsiepe, B. Hamers, R. Franke, H.-W. Zanthoff, G. Schembecker
  Economic evaluation of decentralized production
  8th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, Deutschland (2011)
• S. Sievers, T. Seifert, C. Bramsiepe, B. Hamers, R. Franke, H.-W. Zanthoff, G. Schembecker
  Modular Plant Design: Selection Concept, Economics & Simulation
  Jahrestreffen der Fachgemeinschaft "Prozess-, Apparate- und Anlagentechnik", Deutschland (2011)

Poster presentations

• S. Sievers, T. Seifert, C. Bramsiepe, G. Schembecker
  Identification of Useful Application of a Modular Production Concept During Early Process Development
  20th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, Prague (2012)
• S. Sievers, T. Seifert, C. Bramsiepe, G. Schembecker
  A Method for Identification of Useful Application of a Modular Production Concept During Early Process Development
  ProcessNet-Jahrestagung und 30. DECHEMA-Jahrestagung der Biotechnologen, Karlsruhe (2012)