SABYDOMA Project: Introducing Feedback Control to Safety by Design of Nanomaterials

In order to achieve safer nanomaterials (NMs), the safety by design (SbD) concept provides a significant advance by acting
preemptively. Within the SbD concept, it is necessary to define systems and methodologies that ensure both the safety and efficacy
of the final product. This must be accompanied by managing production effectively, so that out of specification product quantities
are minimized while workplace exposure to NMs remains within safe limits. An integrated approach that addresses all these issues,
ranging from control of processes to design of products is needed to address the challenges in the field.

The SABYDOMA project aims to apply systems control and optimisation principles in all successive stages of SbD. A groundbreaking
methodology will introduce for the first time the model predictive control (MPC) philosophy, which is one of the most popular and successful control methodologies in the chemical industry and beyond. A basic ingredient of the proposed MPC approach is the development of mathematical models, which correlate the system inputs with safety-related controlled variables, such as toxicity. The most appropriate modelling methodological approaches will be applied at different levels of SbD.

The introduction of Feedback Control to the production and design of Nanomaterials addresses many problems that arise in the field, offering not only mitigation of risk, but also control over the process, bridging functionality and safety.