- Non-specialized purpose, wide operating range, can be repurposed
- Reusable across other programs / suitable for long-term use, easily modified
- Excellent applicability for scale-up, material, and unit-operation testing
- Not suitable for solving fine-grained, specific problems
- Broad scope increases design time and effort
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- Very specific, clearly defined purpose with a narrow operating range
- Clear design specifications: enables the fastest, lowest-cost construction
- Can be optimized for low cost
- If the initial design basis is inaccurate or too narrow → high risk of failing to accurately define the problem
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- Two or more different purposes with differing capability/design requirements
- Requires a highly experienced operating team with strong management capabilities
- Shared base infrastructure, cost-effective
- Additional functionality can be added in a modular fashion
- Large differences / multi-purpose operation → difficult design → reduced shared scope, higher cost / increased downtime
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- Two or more single-purpose units
- Shared base infrastructure with separated unit capacities
- Allows concurrent operation
- Reduces initial construction cost
- Potential for design errors to be repeated across units
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