DETAILED DECISION WORKFLOW
Put the principle into a project decision.
Start with the decision the trial must support
A pilot trial should resolve a selection uncertainty. Write that uncertainty in a sentence: whether the feed forms a washable cake, whether a decanter can transport the solids, whether a liquid target can be met at the required load, or whether a particular discharge concept handles the product reliably. Then choose measurements that answer it. Running a long series of arbitrary settings can produce a large data file without resolving the purchase decision. Agree the test boundary, the proposed acceptance basis and the limits of the pilot before material arrives.
Characterize and preserve the feed history
Record where the sample came from, the operating condition it represents, its collection time and handling history. Characterize the material at the time of testing rather than relying only on a plant analysis from another day. Cooling, ageing, settling or dilution can change separation behaviour. Where variability matters, keep representative normal and difficult feeds distinct. Document how the sample was mixed before testing and whether that treatment changes the material. The final report should make it possible to connect each performance result to the feed actually tested.
Use a controlled test matrix
Choose a reference condition and repeat it through the campaign. Change variables deliberately and record the resulting process state, rather than adjusting several settings at once and guessing which caused the improvement. The allowed settings and safe sequence must come from the trial equipment supplier. Measure the quality of every relevant outlet, total recovery and complete operating time. For filtration, include repeated cycles and heel behaviour. For a continuous machine, distinguish stable results from start-up and shutdown. The test plan should state what counts as a stable sampling interval.
Check all balances and trade-offs
Collect feed and outlet quantities over a consistent interval and include added streams. A mass-balance gap can reveal an unmeasured discharge, accumulation or sampling problem. For a valuable product, also calculate the target-component balance; total dry solids can include impurities. Report energy and chemical consumption on a defined denominator. Do not combine the best moisture value from one run, the highest capture from another and the lowest energy from a third into a performance point that never existed. Keep each operating point as a coherent set of measurements.
Document scale-up assumptions
A pilot and a production machine may differ in geometry, transport behaviour, feed distribution, residence-time distribution and control arrangement. Ask the supplier which parameters are preserved or adjusted in scale-up and where additional evidence is required. Matching RCF or basket volume alone is not a complete scale-up method. A laboratory filtration curve can inform selection without establishing industrial discharge reliability. Likewise, a tube-settling result cannot prove scroll conveyance capacity. The report should distinguish measured pilot results, engineering calculations and production expectations.
Turn results into a bounded recommendation
Conclude with the recommended family and configuration, the tested feed range, the product results at the proposed operating point, and unresolved limitations. Include the next step for any material gap, such as a repeat trial with representative feed, a larger pilot, an interface study or a revised target. Convert that evidence into the procurement and acceptance documents with the responsible supplier and buyer teams. A useful trial can also reject a technology: documenting why it failed prevents the same unsuitable option from reappearing later as a superficially cheaper quotation.
