Manufacturing & Production
Trends from colour analysis
Video analysis software for non-contact reaction and process monitoring, with applications in Pharma, Food & Drink, Forensics, Materials, and Safety.
Field of Expertise
Physical Organic Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Computer Vision, Virtual Reality, Process Safety
Expertise
CHALLENGE: Few time-resolved analytical technologies are applicable on both small and large scales. Cameras have the potential to enable more time-, cost-, and safety-effective monitoring of high-value chemical processes. Video analysis holds potential for analysing wide-ranging chemical phenomena in the lab, on plant, in batch, and in flow. TRACK RECORD: As part of a wider programme in digital chemistry, the Reid Group is developing video analysis software for kinetics. Current applications of the software include: catalysis kinetics, process-scale mixing phenomena, and solid-phase material degradation kinetics. ENGAGEMENT: Current experimental and software developments have been supported by the Centre for Process Analytics and Control Technology (CPACT), the Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund, and (most recently) a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. We have collaborated with GlaxoSmithKline, Fujifilm, Johnson Matthey, Infineum, AstraZeneca, and Terumo. CALL TO ACTION: We are now seeking tangible cases of where this software could have marked impact on industrial and academic workflows. To do so, we are open to discussions on further proof-of-concept, collaborative, or consultative exercises. If you have a particular case in mind, you might also consider ‘filling in the blanks’ on the following statement to help during a more focused discussion: For our efforts in projects such as _______, our main task is to _________. A current pain/bottleneck in achieving the above goal is __________. This pain means we cannot _________. If we had access to technology like that described above, our team could _________ instead of (or as well as) _________. Over the course of a single project, the addition of this new technology into our workflow would have the effect of _________. Compared to how we do things now, this new capability would allow the aforementioned project to be completed _________ times (faster/cheaper/safer/more accurately/other?) than __________. The bigger picture / longer term impact of this technology integration could be ________.