Dr.-Ing. Tim Seifert

Tim Seifert studied chemical engineering at the TU Dortmund. Beginning in 2005, he graduated in 2010 with a diploma thesis dealing with a modell based profitability analysis of a modular continuous production of recombinant proteins.

From 2010 to 2014 he worked as scientific assistant at the Laboratory of Plant and Process Design at the Technical University of Dortmund.

Globalization, increasing product diversity, uncertain markets and shorter product life cycles are the new challenges in the chemical and biochemical industry. Modularization can be a way to meet these challenges by reducing design and construction time.

The idea is to use standardized modules with fixed capacities instead of designing a highly optimized process with customized apparatus. By reusing apparatus designs, detailed engineering of apparatus is eliminated and design time is reduced. Construction time can be reduced by pre-assembling the pre-designed modules in a workshop. This minimizes on-site construction time and costs because, for example, construction is not dependent on weather conditions, construction supervision is reduced, and modules can be pretested in the workshop.

However, modular construction also brings changes and challenges. Working with a limited number of apparatus sizes means that the interactions between the different working units must be taken into account. Therefore, process parameters may need to be adjusted to achieve the required performance and purity.

The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of using fixed apparatus sizes on process economics and to find strategies for modularization. This work is carried out within the framework of the European project "F³-Factory: Flexible, Fast and Future Production Processes", which involves 16 companies and 12 universities and institutes.

Dissertation

• T.Seifert
  A contribution to the design of flexible modular chemical plants
  TU Dortmund, 2015, Verlag Dr. Hut, München ISBN 978-3-8439-2265-4

Paper 

• 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, Volume 52, 2012, 140-150, doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2011.10.007

• 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, Volume 51, 2012, 32-52, doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2011.08.005

Oral presentations

• T. Seifert, Stefan Sievers, G. Schembecker, C. Bramsiepe
  Flexibilitätsanalysen von modularen Anlagen
  Jahrestreffen der Fachgemeinschaft "Prozess-, Apparate- und Anlagentechnik", Deutschland (2012)
   
• T. Seifert, P. Schmidt, S. Sievers, M. Becker, B. Hamers, M. Priske, P. Kreis, C. Bramsiepe
  A design workflow for modular plants applied to the recycling of homogeneous catalysts in hydroformylation
  International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, Tschechien (2012)
   
• T. Seifert, Stefan Sievers, G. Schembecker, C. Bramsiepe
  Modular production concepts: Finding a balance between flexibility and costs
  ANQUE International Congress of Chemical Engineering, Spanien (2012)
   
• T. Seifert, Stefan Sievers, C. Bramsiepe, G. Schembecker
  The influence of modularization on process design and economy
  8th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, Deutschland (2011)
   
• T. Seifert, Stefan Sievers, C. Bramsiepe, G. Schembecker
  Model-based profitability analysis of a modular continuous production of recombinant proteins
  Jahrestreffen der Fachgemeinschaft "Prozess-, Apparate- und Anlagentechnik", Deutschland (2010)

Poster presentation

• T. Seifert, S. Sievers, G. Schembecker, C. Bramsiepe
  Flexibility Analysis of modular multiproduct plants using a Real Option approach
  9th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, Niederlande (2013)

• T. Seifert, S. Sievers, G. Schembecker, C. Bramsiepe
  Methoden zur Bewertung der Kapazitätsflexibilität modularer Anlagen
  ProcessNet Jahrestagung, Deutschland (2012)