Cookies are yummy, but avoid cookie-cutters.

We can all agree that cookies are yummy. Cookie monster is not the only creature out there who loves to chow down on a tasty chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin (my favorite are Thin Mints).
What is not so good, though, is using a cookie-cutter approach to problem solving and filtration tests.

In filtration testing and scaling-up to commercial size, it’s important to not “jump to conclusions” that the familiar approach is going to work best.

Laboratory/bench top filtration testing is critical in the problem analysis, technology selection, and pilot and demonstration scale-up stages.

As I’ve blogged about, and discuss at length in my Practical Guide to Solid-Liquid Filtration, we can learn a lot from sleuths Holmes and Watson. They would argue it’s important to train yourself to be a better decision maker. Your best bet is to use checklists, formulas, and structured processes.
It’s also essential to train yourself to stop and repeat. Don’t succumb to certainty. Discuss your options with technology suppliers that can provide different filtration solutions. Partnering with suppliers with a proven track record in similar applications will shorten your technology scale-up cycle.

Ultimately, what matters are your premises (process definition, requirements and testing objectives) how the testing unwinds the crucial from the incidental (what is the critical process parameter) and ending up with a logical conclusion (optimum process filtration solution). With caution and clear thinking you can better manage the stress of a scale-up.

This blog marks the one year anniversary of “Perlmutter Unfiltered.”  I would like to thank everyone for their feedback and responses.  Let me know your ideas and thoughts; guest bloggers are always welcomed, whether it’s about filtration tests or something else for our industry.