Table Of ContentAN APPLIED GUIDE
TO PROCESS AND
PLANT DESIGN
For Annemarie
AN APPLIED GUIDE TO
PROCESS AND PLANT
DESIGN
SEÁN MORAN
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON
NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK
225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA
Copyright r 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about
the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance
Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher
(other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our
understanding, changes in research methods and professional practices may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using
any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods
they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a
professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any
liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise,
or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
ISBN: 978-0-12-800242-1
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications
visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com/
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India
www.adi-mps.com
Printed and bound in the United States
Publisher: Joe Hayton
Acquisition Editor: Fiona Geraghty
Editorial Project Manager: Cari Owen
Production Project Manager: Lisa Jones
Designer: Maria Ines Cruz
CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xii
Part 1 Practical Principles
Introduction 3
1. Process Plant Design 5
Introduction 5
What is engineering? 5
What is design? 6
Engineering design 7
Project life cycle 8
Process plant design 9
Process plant versus process design 11
Academic versus professional practice 13
State of the art and best engineering practice 18
The use and abuse of computers 19
Further reading 20
2. Stages of Process Plant Design 21
General 21
Conceptual design 21
“Conceptual design of chemical processes” 23
Front End Engineering Design (FEED)/basic design 25
Detailed design 26
Site redesign 27
Posthandover redesign 28
Unstaged design 29
Product engineering 29
Fast-tracking 30
Further reading 33
3. Process Plant Design Deliverables 35
Overview 35
Design basis and philosophies 35
v
vi Contents
Specification 36
Process Flow Diagram (PFD) 37
Piping and instrumentation diagram 38
Functional Design Specification (FDS) 40
Plot plan/general arrangement/layout drawing 40
Program 42
Cost estimate 42
Equipment list/schedule 45
Datasheets 46
Safety documentation 47
Design calculations 48
Isometric piping drawings 51
Simulator output 52
Further reading 52
4. Twenty-First Century Process Plant Design Tools 53
General 53
Use of computers by chemical engineers 54
Implications of modern design tools 54
Categories of design 56
Tools—Hardware 57
Tools—Software 59
Further reading 68
5. The Future of Process Plant Design 69
Process porn 69
Will first principles design replace heuristic design in future? 71
Will process design become a form of applied mathematics in future? 72
Will primary research become the basis of engineering design in future? 72
Will “chemical process design” replace process plant design in future? 72
Will network analysis form the core of design practice in future? 73
Will process simulation replace the design process in future? 73
Will process plant design never change? 74
Further reading 75
Part 2 Professional Practice
6. System Level Design 79
Introduction 79
How to put unit operations together 79
Matching design rigor with stage of design 80
Contents vii
Implications for cost 81
Implications for safety 82
Implications for robustness 82
Rule of thumb design 83
First principles design 83
Design by simulation program 84
Sources of design data 84
Further reading 87
7. Professional Design Methodology 89
Introduction 89
Design methodologies 90
The “is” and “ought” of process design 91
Right versus wrong design 92
Interesting versus boring design 92
Continuous versus batch design 94
Simple/robust versus complicated/fragile design 98
Setting the design envelope 100
Implications of new design tools 102
Importance of understanding your design 103
Manager/engineer tensions in design 103
Whole-system design methodology 105
Design stages in a nutshell 106
Variations on a theme 107
Further reading 107
8. How to Do a Mass and Energy Balance 109
Introduction 109
Handling recycles 111
How to set it out in Excel 112
Using Excel for iterative calculations: “Goal Seek” and “Solver” 113
9. How to Do Hydraulic Calculations 115
Introduction 115
Matching design rigor with stage of design 115
Hydraulic networks 121
Pump curves 122
Further reading 126
viii Contents
Part 3 Low Level Design
10. How to Design and Select Plant Components and Materials 129
Introduction 129
What process engineers design 129
Matching design rigor with stage of design 130
Materials of construction 131
Mechanical equipment 138
Electrical and control equipment 145
Further reading 151
11. How to Design Unit Operations 153
Introduction 153
Matching design rigor with stage of design 153
Rule of thumb design 153
Approaches to design of unit operations 154
Sources of design data 156
Scale-up and scale-out 156
Neglected unit operations: separation processes 157
Further reading 161
12. How to Cost a Design 163
Introduction 163
Matching design rigor with stage of design 163
The basics 164
Academic costing practice 165
Professional costing practice 167
Further reading 171
Part 4 High Level Design
13. How to Design a Process Control System 175
Introduction 175
Matching design rigor with stage of design 176
Operation and Maintenance manuals 176
Specification of operators 177
Automatic control 177
Standard control and instrumentation strategies 180
Further reading 199
Contents ix
14. How to Lay Out a Process Plant 201
Introduction 201
General principles 202
Factors affecting layout 204
Plant layout and safety 208
Plant layout and cost 209
Plant layout and aesthetics 210
Matching design rigor with stage of design 212
Further reading 216
15. How to Make Sure Your Design Is Reasonably Safe and Sustainable 217
Introduction 217
Why only reasonably? 217
Matching design rigor with stage of design 218
Conceptual design stage 219
Detailed design stage 221
Formal methods: safety 222
Formal methods: sustainability 229
Specification of equipment with safety implications in mind 230
Specification of safety devices 235
Types of safety device 235
Further reading 245
Sources 245
Part 5 Advanced Design
16. Professional Practice 249
Introduction 249
General design methodology 249
Informal design reviews 250
Formal design reviews 251
Quality assurance and document control 252
Informal data exchange 253
Further reading 254
17. Beginner’s Errors to Avoid 255
Introduction 255
Lack of equipment knowledge 259
Lack of knowledge of many types of unit operations 261
Lack of knowledge of many materials of construction 262
