ChE 522: Chemical Engineering Plant Design Prelims

Plant Design – includes all engineering aspects Typical Design Steps

Design Engineer – makes economic evaluation 1. Recognize a societal / engineering need
of new process 2. Create one or more potential solutions
3. Undertake Preliminary Synthesis
Cost Engineer – specializes in the economic
4. Assess profitability
aspects of design
5. Refine Required Design Data
Process Engineering – economics of commercial 6. Prepare detailed engineering design
processes 7. Reassess economic viability
8. Review the process for Environmental,
Process Design – actual design of equipment
Safety and Health effects
and facilities
9. Provide written process design report
10. Complete the Final Engineering Design
Ch. 1: GENERAL OVERALL DESIGN a. Determine equipment layout and
CONSIDERATIONS specifications
b. Develop P&ID
Process Design Development
c. Prepare bids for the
1. Inception of the basic idea equipment/process plant
- result of customer request, offshoot of 11. Procure Equipment
R&D 12. Assist with Start up
13. Initiate Production
//if it’s worthwhile…
Flowsheet Development
2. Preliminary Research or Investigation
Program *base case designs
- general survey of possibilities for Computer-Aided Design
successful process considering the *process simulators
physical and chemical operations +
Cost Estimation
economics
3. Process Research Phase ♦ Predesign Cost Estimation – evaluation of costs
- includes preliminary market analysis & in the preliminary design phase
survey, lab scale experiments and
Profitability Analysis of Investments
research sample of final products
Factors Affecting Profitability
4. Development Phase
♦ Pilot Plant ♦ Directors – stockholders, capital investment
♦ Design Data decisions
♦ Complete Market Analysis ♦ Money ( capital) = time value
♦ Capital Cost Estimates ♦ Return – depends on risk
♦ Probable Returns on Investment ♦ Raise minimum acceptable rate of return of
♦ Complete Cost & Profit Analysis riskier projects
♦ Time Value – compound interest
Capitalized Engineering – involved in further
♦ Expenses (Tax and Insurance)
work on the project
♦ Depreciation
Expensed Engineering – gone on before – all physical assets value decrease in time
while the consideration of project was in - periodic charges again earnings
development stage ♦ Capital Recovery – partial regeneration of the
first cost if the physical assets
5. Final Process Design
- all design details are worked out Optimum Economic Design
- complete construction of plant, start up Optimum Operation Design
plant, improvement of operation,
development of SOP

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ChE 522: Chemical Engineering Plant Design Prelims

Ch.2: GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

3 General Control Principles in Reducing
HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS
Exposure
♦ Safety Hazard – highly toxic material that
1. Source Controls
causes immediate injury
- measures taken to prevent the release
♦ Industrial Health and Hygiene Hazard – effect of toxic contaminants to the air
apparent only after long exposure at low 2. Transmission Barriers
concentrations - means for capturing or blocking the
contaminant
♦LD50
3. Personal Protection
– lethal dose at which 50% of the test animals do
- protective device to prevent contact
not survive
♦Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)
- long – term exposure of humans set by the Fire and Explosion Hazards
Threshold Limit Value (TLV)
♦ Fire = fuel + oxidizer + ignition source + Self
♦ Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Sustaining
(OSHA)
♦ Lower Flammable Limit (LFL)
Sources of Exposure - minimum concentration of fuel in air
♦ Inhalation required for ignition in ambient temperature
♦ Percutaneous – via skin contact
♦ Autoignition Temperature (AIT)
♦ Fugitive Emissions
- temperature at which ignition occur without
♦ Contaminants
the presence of a spark or flame
♦ Flammable Materials
♦ Convection and Radiation – mechanisms of
Exposure Evaluation heat transfer in a fire
- perform a risk assessment and then prioritize the
♦ Class A : ordinary
exposure measurement effort required
♦ Class B : burning liquids and gases
♦ MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheet
♦ Class C : A or B in live electric circuits
1. Product Information
♦ Class D : metals
2. Hazardous Components
3. Physical Data ♦ Active Fire Protection Systems
4. Fire and Explosion Hazard Data - water sprays, foam, dry chemicals
5. Health and Hazard Data ♦Passive Fire Protection Systems
6. Reactivity Data - designed and installed at the time of
7. Spill and Disposal Procedures construction
8. Protective Equipment *Fireproofing – insulating materials
9. Storage and Handling Precautions
10. Transportation Data and Other Info ♦ Explosion – sudden & generally
catastrophic release of energy causing a
pressure wave
Control of Exposure Hazards
1. Boiling – Liquid Expanding – Vapor (BLEV)
♦ Containment – dictated by PT and fire
- heat leakage into container filled with
♦ Local Exhaust Ventilation – controls
boiling liquid results in excessive vaporization
contaminant exposure by establishing a control
surface/barrier 2. Unconfined Vapor Cloud Explosion (UVCE)
♦ Dilution Ventilation - adds diluent to a - follows release of a flammable material
contaminant – filled space
♦ Detonation – supersonic, shock
compression
♦ Deflagration – subsonic, slow pressure build
up

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ChE 522: Chemical Engineering Plant Design Prelims

LOSS PREVENTION Solid Waste Disposal

- insurance term which represents loss associated
♦ Incineration
with an accident
- controlled oxidation of solid, liquid or gaseous
1. Identification and Assessment of Major combustible wastes to final products of carbon
Hazards dioxe, water and ash
2. Control of the Hazards
♦ Pyrolysis
3. Control of the Process
- air free chamber at high temperatures
4. Limitation of the loss when an incident
occurs ♦ Landfill
♦ HAZOP Study Thermal Pollution Control
- Hazard and Operability Study
- Systematic Technique ♦ Cooling towers
♦ Fault – Tree Analysis (FTA)
Noise Control
- means of analyzing hazardous events after
being identified by HAZOP
♦ Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
- focuses only on component failure and does PLANT LOCATION
not consider errors in operating procedures ♦ Raw Materials Availability
♦ Safety Indexes – provided by DOW Chemical ♦ Energy Availability
Company ♦ Markets
♦ Safety Audits ♦ Climate
♦ Transportation Facilities
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ♦Water Supply
♦ Labor Supply
Air Pollution Abatement ♦ Waste disposal
♦ Taxation and Legal Restrictions
♦ Best Available Control Technology (BACT)
♦ Site Characteristics
♦ Ambient Air Quality Standard (AAQS) ♦ Flood and Fire Protection
♦ Community Factors
2 Categories of Air Pollution Equipment
1. For Particulate Removal (physical) PLANT LAYOUT
2. For Gaseous Pollutants (chemical)
1. New site development or addition to
Water Pollution Abatement previously developed site
2. Type and quantity of products to be
♦ Physical Treatment produced
- to remove large floating/suspended particles 3. Types of process and product control
4. Operational convenience and
♦ Chemical Treatment
accessibility
- coagulation
5. Economic distribution of utilities and
- emulsion breaking
services
♦ Biological Treatment 6. Type of buildings required and building
BOD – measure of the ability of a waste code requirements
component to consume the oxygen dissolved in 7. Health and safety conditions
water 8. Waste disposal requirements
COD 9. Auxiliary Equipment
10. Space available and required
11. Roads and railroads
12. Possible future expansion
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ChE 522: Chemical Engineering Plant Design Prelims

PLANT OPERATION AND CONTROL Ch.3: PROCESS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

♦ Instrumentation DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN DATABASE

♦ Maintenance ♦ Literature Survey
♦ Patent Search
♦ Utilities
PROCESS CREATION
♦ Structural Design
♦ Batch vs Continuous Operation
♦ Storage ♦ Raw Materials and Product Specifications
1. Flowrate required for the product
♦ Materials Handling
2. Composition
Factors to consider in selecting equipment
3. Phase
4. Form (particle size distribution)
1. Chemical and Physical Nature of material 5. Temperature
being handled 6. Pressure
2. Type and distance of movement of material ♦ Process Synthesis Steps

3. Quantity of material moved per unit time

PROCESS DESIGN
4. Nature of feed and discharge from materials –
handling equipment 1. Technical Factors
a. Process Flexibility
5. Continuous or intermittent nature of materials b. Continuous, semicontinuous or batch
handling c. Special controls involved
d. Commercial yields
PATENT CONSIDERATIONS e. Technical difficulties involved
Patent – contract between inventor and the f. Energy requirements
g. Special auxiliaries required
public
h. Possibility of future developments
i. Health and safety hazards involved

2. Raw Materials
a. Present and Future availability
b. Processing required
c. Storage requirements
d. Materials

3. Waste Products and By-products

a. Amount Produced
b. Value
c. Potential markets and uses
d. Manner of discard
e. Environmental aspects

4. Equipment
a. Availability
b. Materials of Construction
c. Initial Costs
d. Maintenance and Installation Costs
e. Replacement requirements
f. Special designs

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ChE 522: Chemical Engineering Plant Design Prelims

5. Plant Location Types of Process Design

a. Amount of land required 1. Order – of – Magnitude Designs
b. Transportation Facilities 2. Study of factored Designs
c. Proximity to markets and raw material 3. Preliminary Designs
resources - basis for determining whether further
d. Availability of service and power work should be done on a proposed
sources process
e. Availability of Labor - utilization of flowsheet
f. Climate 4. Detailed – estimate Designs
g. Legal restriction and taxes a. Manufacturing Process
b. Material and Energy Balances
6. Costs c. Temperature and Pressure Ranges
a. Raw Materials d. Raw Material and Product
b. Energy Specification
c. Depreciation e. Yields, reaction rates, time cycles
d. Other fixed charges f. Materials of Construction
e. Processing and overhead g. Utilities’ requirements
f. Special labor requirements h. Plant Site
g. Real estate
h. Patent Rights 5. Final Process Designs
i. Environmental Controls

7. Time Factor
a. Project Completion Deadline
b. Process Development Required
c. Market timelines
d. Value of Money

8. Process Considerations
a. Technology Availability
b. Raw materials common with other
processes
c. Consistency of product within
company
d. General Company objectives

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