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Aaron Sarafinas

Sarafinas Process & Mixing Consulting LLC

 

Member profile details

Photo
First name
Aaron
Last name
Sarafinas
Organization
Sarafinas Process & Mixing Consulting LLC
 

Contact information

City
Warminster
State or Province
Pennsylvania
Zip Code
18974
Country
United States
Phone
+1 215.266.6473
 

Specialties and Services

Fields of Expertise
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Cost Analysis and Economic Evaluation
  • Heat Transfer
  • Mass Transfer
  • Mathematical Modeling
  • Polymers
  • Process Equipment Design
  • Process Troubleshooting
  • Pumping and Fluid Flow
  • Reaction Engineering
  • Research and Development
  • Technology Transfer
Other Fields of Expertise
Mixing and Agitation Technology
Process Development / Scale-up / Scale-down
Process Modeling (including DynoChem and M-Star CFD)
Process Simplification / Functional Analysis
Process Synthesis
Technology Selection / Generate & Reduce Options
Summary
I formed my consulting company in June 2018 after almost 36 years at Dow/Rohm and Haas, where I was the bridge between the lab and the plant for many different business areas on a wide variety of processes. My clients achieve faster process development, scaling, and troubleshooting while using advantaged fluid mixing technologies. I help clients understand how mixing matters in their process and how to deal with mixing effects to avoid unpleasant surprises on scale-up.

I have established myself as an expert in bridging between the R&D lab and commercial production units. I specialize in process development, especially on the impact of mixing technology, with decades of industrial experience in both technical and leadership roles. Throughout my career, I have helped internal clients and external customers realize that
-- "good mixing" is impossible without the proper process context, and
-- "using the right tools in the right way at the right time” is the efficient way to build process understanding and achieve commercial success.

Two things have been critical to me throughout my career:
-- to be at the forefront of creating and improving best practices around process development and mixing,
-- to raise the working-level knowledge of “process practitioners” on how best to apply mixing and process technology to achieve commercial success.

In 2023, I was presented with the AIChE North American Mixing Forum Award for Excellence and Sustained Contributions to Mixing Research and Practice.
Services
Sarafinas Process & Mixing Consulting LLC enables clients to
-- achieve faster process development and scaling and
-- leverage advantaged mixing technology

Applies 35+ years of experience in solving tough chemical processing problems by building process understanding that bridges the chasm between the lab and the plant.

Delivers quicker and more reliable scale-up and scale-down. Efficiently determines how fluid mixing technology impacts processes. Often evaluates if a proposed mixing design could deliver the desired process results.

Enables development of simpler and improved processes by applying techniques to generate and select superior process technology options.

Creates technology connections within and across organizations, enabling better management of technical capabilities and raising working level knowledge of technical communities.

Develops and delivers effective process technology training.
 

Additional Information

Additional Info
Affiliations:
AIChE Process Development Division
AIChE North American Mixing Forum (NAMF)
BHR Group - Fluid Mixing Processes (FMP) Consortium
Scale-up Systems Ltd - DynoChem software
ChemPharma Professional Association
Experience
SARAFINAS PROCESS & MIXING CONSULTING LLC, WARMINSTER, PA 2018-PRESENT
Principal & Mixing Steward
Independent Consulting on Process Development/Troubleshooting and Mixing Technology
• Expert troubleshooting on various process development and production problems, leveraging process technology, scale-up/scale-down, and mixing expertise, including
o Guided pharmaceutical, specialty chemical, and CDMO clients to efficiently understand their process and equipment fit issues to overcome their previous scale-up failures, enabling new product introduction and process improvements
o Provided process insight to mixing equipment vendor to enable an improved design after their customer had a polymerization process failure
• Working with various clients to improve their process development work process and tools
• Collaborating with process modeling company to improve their mixing tools
• Consultant to FMP Consortium on their mixing research program
• Developed and delivered different process technology training, including
o “Applied Mixing Technology for Process Development: Scaling Down to Scale Up” course for Scientific Update
o “Scaling and Piloting for the Process Industries” course for the Center for Professional Advancement
o “Talking Mixing” webinar series on fluid mixing basics, multiphase mixing, and reactive mixing for DynoChem and training webinars on the DynoChem mixing and heat transfer toolbox.
o Focused training on different aspects of process development and fluid mixing technology for various specialty chemical and pharmaceutical companies


THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY, COLLEGEVILLE AND SPRING HOUSE, PA 2009-2018
Process Development Global Subject Matter Expert & Mixing Steward 2013-2018
Technical Leader in global Advanced Polymer Process Technology area
• Advanced conceptual, experimental, and computational methods which enabled faster and more reliable development, scale-up, troubleshooting, and customer product introduction
• Guided, recommended, and supervised lab, pilot, and production experiments to create process understanding and deliver solutions for previously unmet needs
• Designed and delivered computational tools which were integral parts of development and commercialization work processes

Principal Research Scientist / Distinguished Engineer in Core R&D 2009-2012
Technical leader in Fluid Mechanics & Mixing and Process Development & Analysis areas
• Delivered technical solutions to the various businesses in Dow Advanced Materials in the areas of process development, mixing, scale-up, reaction engineering, and economic analysis
• Often facilitated large group and virtual ideation sessions which delivered innovative solutions to challenging technology problems
• Integrated the Dow and Rohm and Haas mixing courses, chemical reaction systems scale-up courses, and other methods which delivered improved and simplified chemical processes
More Experience
ROHM AND HAAS COMPANY, BRISTOL AND SPRING HOUSE, PA 1982-2009
Distinguished Engineer in the Engineering Technical Center 2000-2009
Technical consultant for all internal businesses
• Delivered expert technical solutions to satisfy unmet business needs on process development, mixing, scale-up, reaction systems, and cost estimation / financial analysis
• Developed methodologies to streamline early process development and scale-up
• Facilitated Brainstorm / Peer Reviews and other ideation methods to generate innovative solutions to technical problems and simpler chemical processes

Mixing Steward (corporate role) 1996-2009
Mixing Stewards enable all process practitioners at Rohm and Haas to have the appropriate access to and understanding of mixing technology to succeed in their work.
• Co-developer of live and web-based company Introduction to Mixing Technology course
• Taught Scale-Up and Scale-Down in company Reaction Systems Course.
• Company liaison to BHR Group’s Fluid Mixing Processes (FMP) Consortium and University of Maryland High Shear Mixing Research Program.

Senior Engineer / Project Leader in AgChem Process Research 1991-2000
• Senior Engineer / Project Leader for active ingredient process development and scale-up to manufacturing.
• Co-developer of Ag’s early process development and process economic analysis methods.

Research Process Engineer / Senior Engineer in Ion Exchange Research 1982-1991
• Process development and scale-up for many ion exchange products
• Developed optimal designs for suspension polymerization reactors through agitation studies
Education
Master of Chemical Engineering, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, with concentration in process control
Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Patents
• Method of manufacturing chemical mechanical polishing layers, US 9463550, Issued Oct 11, 2016
• Method of manufacturing chemical mechanical polishing layers, US 9463553, Issued Oct 11, 2016
• Swept Membrane Emulsification, US 9393532, Issued Jul 19, 2016
• Method for producing polymer beads of uniform size, US 7947748, Issued May 24, 2011
• Apparatus for forming a striation reduced chemical mechanical polishing pad, US 7275928, Issued Oct 12, 2007
• Method of making lithium borohydride, US 7029641, Issued Apr 18, 2006
• Method to prepare dihydrothiazoles, US 6062929, Issued May 16, 2005
• Power-controlled bonding of resin or (co)polymer powder and flake materials, US200600058427, filed Mar 16, 2006
Publications
• Sarafinas, A. and Teich, C.I. “Scale-up Using the Bourne Protocol” in Kresta, S.M., Etchels III, A.W., Dickey, D.S., and Atiemo-Obeng, V.A., Advances in Industrial Mixing: A Companion to the Handbook of Industrial Mixing, John Wiley and Sons, 2016.
• Schultz, A. and Sarafinas, A., “Heterogeneous Biodiesel Catalyst Demonstrated in Transportable Pilot Plant Reactor”, Hydrocarbon Processing, Oct 2010.
• Hendershot, D.C. and Sarafinas, A., “Safe Chemical Reaction Scale Up”, Chemical Health & Safety, American Chemical Society, Nov 2005

• Sarafinas, A., “A further look at the Bourne Protocol for efficient investigation of mixing sensitivities during process development” AIChE 2017 Process Development Symposium, Toronto, Canada, Jun 8, 2017.
• Sarafinas, A., “The Evolution of Process Understanding Through Micromixing and Mass Transfer Studies in the Successful Development of a Specialty Chemical Process” AIChE 2011 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, Paper 389e, 2011.
• Teich, C., Sarafinas, A., Morton, P., “Taking the Min to the Max: A Case Study in Small Scale Process Development Using On-Line Reaction Calorimetry and in-situ Particle Characterization” AIChE 2010 Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, Paper 422b, 2010.
• Teich, C., Sarafinas, A., Morton, P., “Can This Process Be Saved? A Search for Understanding Using the Bourne Protocol and Advanced Process Development Tools” AIChE 2010 Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, Paper 437e, 2010.
• Kolesar, D., Berrier, J, Teich, C., Sarafinas, A, “Using DynoChem(R) to Reduce Batch Cycle TIme in a Gas-Liquid Reactor and Commission a New Unit” DynoChem User Group Meeting 2007, May 16, 2007.
• Sarafinas, A. “Successful Process Development: Profitable Specialty Chemical Products Using Winning Work Practices,” AIChE Process Development Symposium, Pocono Mountain, PA, June 2003.
• Hunt, C.T. and Sarafinas, A., “Virtuous not just Virtual Teams: Networking for Success at Rohm and Haas” AIChE 2002 Spring National Meeting New Orleans, LA, Paper 23g, Mar 2002.
• Roemmele, R., Eagleton, J., Sarafinas, A., “An Integrated Approach to Agricultural Intermediate Process Development” AIChE 2000 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, Paper 274b, Nov 2000.
Miscellaneous
Sarafinas Process & Mixing Consulting LLC -
Enable Faster Process Development and Scaling
Leverage Advantaged Mixing Technology
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