Using Factorial Experiments in the Development of Process Chemistry

Factorial experiments consist of a systematic variation of two or more variables at once. For a two level experiment, each variable is set to either a high or low value according to a standard pattern. An experimental run is conducted for each possible combination of variable settings. When only a small number of experiments can be run, it is possible to reduce the number of variable setting patterns by a half, a quarter or an eighth. Designs with a reduced number of variable patterns are known as fractional factorial experiments.