Specifying Technology Readiness Levels for the Chemical Industry

Abstract

Technology readiness levels (TRL) have received increasing recognition throughout academia, industry and policy-making as a tool for evaluating and communicating a technology's maturity.Conventional scales are unspecific to technologies as they aim at evaluating and comparing technologies combining different fields. Hence, they present vague descriptions which leave considerable room for interpretation and subjective choices. For the chemical industry, adaptions and specific criteria are needed for more comprehensible TRL ratings. This paper specifies the nine conventional TRLs for the chemical industry as: Idea, Concept, Proof of concept, Preliminary process development, Detailed process development, Pilot trials, Demonstration and full-scale engineering, Commissioning, and Production. Adjusted descriptions and additional criteria with detailed indicators are presented, depicting the logical progression of a typical chemical innovation in the phases of applied research, development and deployment. The specified TRLs facilitate evaluation and communication of a technology's maturity and substantially improve the basis for data availability-based assessment.Issuing institution Purpose and background of the scale US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 2,6,7 Space technology planning as a measurement system that "supports assessments of the maturity of a particular technology and the consistent comparison of maturity between different types of technology" 2 US Department of Defense (US DoD) 13 Focus on "critical technologies" 13 , used in 'Major Defense Acquisition Programs', evaluates the degree of risk associated with each TRL and recommends mitigation measures US Department of Energy (US DoE) 8 Based on NASA and US DoD, adapted to DoE needs, incorporates scale of testing, system fidelity and environment (waste) as criteria in the description, provides appendix with questions for general TRL rating and detailed questions for critical technical elements US Department of Health and Human Services (US HHS) 9Biomedical adaption: designed for evaluating the maturity of medical countermeasure products (drugs and biologics)European Commission, horizon 2020 framework

Apples and Apples: A Shortcut Assessment Framework for Early‐Stage Carbon Capture and Utilization Technologies Based on Efficiency, Feasibility, and Risk

“…We apply the TRL specifications for the chemical industry, which provide detailed evaluation criteria based on an expert survey and therefore allow for a more objective form of evaluation. [ 22 ] Data availability and technology maturity go hand in hand: the TRL evaluation can be partly based on the evaluation of what data are available, and in return, a TRL signifies what data are available for assessment. We focus this assessment framework on early‐stage technologies from TRL 1 to TRL 4.…”

“…At TRL 1, basic research is translated to applications and general opportunities are identified. [ 22 ] For TRL 1, we suggest a macroscopic view, evaluating technology options in general with explorative concepts such as brainstorming or qualitative screening. For assessment at TRL 1, practitioners need to perform a literature study on existing observations of basic principles; including observations from own experiments is optional.…”

“…At TRL 2, the technology concept or application is drafted [ 22 ] —the assessment scope sharpens from the macroscopic view of TRL 1 to a large set of chemical reactions (> 5). [ 54 ] Limitations from kinetics such as side reactions are out of scope at this stage.…”

“…[ 17–20 ] We further proposed a full‐scope assessment framework for chemical technologies and a clarification of the technology readiness level (TRL) definitions for chemical technologies. [ 21,22 ] Further assessment guidance documents have been published by the US National Energy Technology Laboratory and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory; [ 23,24 ] Sick et al confirm a general agreement in the mentioned approaches but request further guidance in the stages of early‐stage technologies. [ 25 ]…”

Translational Roadmap for the Organs-on-a-Chip Industry toward Broad Adoption

“…Technology readiness levels (TRL) shown in Table 1 are used to indicate technological maturity and were initially introduced by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1974. They were later adopted by the U.S. Department of Defense, European Space Agency, ISO 16290:2013 standard, and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program [ 129 ].…”