Limited Tolling

When a process has moved beyond initial testing but commercial equipment is not yet in place, limited tolling gives engineering and production teams a controlled path to generate material, confirm operating strategy, and gather the process data needed for scale-up decisions.

OVERVIEW

What Is Limited Tolling?

Limited tolling, sometimes called semi-works production, is extended pilot plant processing performed to produce larger quantities of material than a standard pilot test would typically generate.

It’s often used when a customer needs material for downstream or market work before investing in a dedicated commercial system. It also opens a longer operating window for studying process stability, equipment performance, product consistency, and scale-up behavior.

Unlike a standard pilot test, limited tolling focuses on repeatable processing over a defined campaign. The objective is not only to confirm the separation performs as expected, but to produce usable material while capturing the operating information needed to move toward full-scale equipment with greater confidence.

Ready to produce more material before committing to commercial-scale equipment? Artisan can define a limited tolling program around your process goals.

When Limited Tolling Makes Sense

Limited tolling is valuable when a process requires more material, more runtime, or more operating data than a conventional pilot test can deliver.

MARKET TRIAL & INTERIM MATERIAL

Generate material for customer evaluation, product qualification, or early market testing while permanent production equipment is still being planned.

SCALE-UP CONFIRMATION

Longer runs show how the process holds up over time, giving a firmer basis for equipment sizing, operating conditions, and throughput expectations.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT WORK

Study alternate operating conditions or separation strategies before introducing changes into a live production environment.

How We Do It

Artisan’s Approach to Limited Tolling

Process Definition

Each limited tolling program begins with a clear definition of the material, target product condition, quantity requirements, operating constraints, and downstream use of the processed material.

This stage sets the technical basis for equipment configuration, run duration, sampling approach, documentation needs, and the operating variables to be tracked during the campaign.

Custom Equipment Configuration

Artisan configures single-stage or multi-stage pilot systems around the separation objective, drawing on thin film evaporation, stripping, and short path operation with the vacuum and condensing equipment each requires. Process simulation and Artisan's scale-up history inform the configuration before the first run. Systems are built around how the material actually behaves - viscous, heat-sensitive, solvent-bearing, prone to fouling, rather than forced into a fixed test format.

Controlled Pilot Plant Operation

Artisan runs the process under controlled conditions, with instrumentation matched to the equipment arrangement: feed rate, temperature, vacuum level, and rotor speed among the parameters tracked. Extended operation exposes what a short test can't: handling limits, drift, and how consistently the process holds over a full campaign.

Data and Documentation

Limited tolling generates practical operating data for the next stage of development - material balance information, product observations, condensate or distillate behavior, workable operating ranges, throughput estimates, and recommendations for commercial system design.That gives engineering and operations a real basis for deciding how the process gets scaled and specified.

Ready to Produce More Material?

With a well-planned tolling campaign, your team gains usable product, longer-run operating insight, and a stronger foundation for commercial system design. Artisan can configure an extended pilot plant program around your material, process objective, and scale-up requirements.