Table Of ContentProcess Equipment and
Plant Design
Principles and Practices
Subhabrata Ray
Department of Chemical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, West Bengal, India
Gargi Das
Department of Chemical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, West Bengal, India
Elsevier
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About the Authors
Subhabrata Ray
Subhabrata did his graduation and post graduation from the Department of Chemical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, and has teaching in his Alma Mater since 1988. Prior to
that,heworkedwithM/sIndianOilCorporationLtd.andM/sTECHNIP-ESIAinvariouscapacities.
Dr. Gargi Das
GargihadtoppedtheundergraduateandpostgraduatecoursesinchemicalengineeringfromJadavpur
UniversityandtheIndianInstituteofTechnologyKharagpur,respectively.Sheisalsotherecipientof
various awards for her research activities. She has been in teaching in the Department of Chemical
Engineering, Indian Institute ofTechnology Kharagpur, since 2001.
xvii
Preface
A course on plant and equipment design would be incomplete without a perspective of the relevant
process system. Thus, the design of a distillation column must include at least the broad details of
the associated heat exchangers, piping, safety arrangements and instrumentation. The book is based
on this approach e toinclude the auxiliaries ofa system, be itanyspecificequipment or aprocess.
Anotherspecificfeatureofthebookisaseparatesectiononprocessutilities,instrumentationand
controlsandengineeredsafetyofplants.Ideasaboutthesesystems,althoughessential,havetradition-
ally receivedless prominence.
The last section of the book discusses design of the complete plant e the process packages with
designexamples.Itsummarisestheconceptsandpracticesdiscussedinprevioussectionsanddemon-
strates their applications in practice. This section is meant specifically to provide an idea of the
capstone projectsthat the undergraduates may take up as partoftheir coursecurriculum.
Toexposethelearnertotheindustrialstandardsandpractices,theimportanceofrelevantindustrial
codesandpracticeshasbeenemphasisedandreferredtowherevernecessary,albeitinalimitedway.
Itisfeltthattherookieengineersinindustrymayfindthisusefulasaresourcethatcoversthebasic
concepts alongwith industrialpractices inprocesses andequipment designs.
Thewaythebookisstructured,theusermaystartwithSectionIandcoverSectionsII,IIIandIVin
anyorder.OnemaygothroughSectionVasperone’sinterestorasapartofaformaldesigncourse.
Subhabrata Ray andGargiDas
Department of ChemicalEngineering
IndianInstituteof Technology Kharagpur
xix
Acknowledgement
Thisbookbearsthecontributionsfromanumberofindividualsandinstitutions.Theseareeverywhere
eventhough only the namesofthe authors appearon the cover.
Writingthisvolumewasapleasurebutthereweremomentsofuncertaintiestoothatcouldbeover-
come only by the constant support and encouragement of our friends and colleagues. Though the
names are numerous, we must mention Mr. Ashis Nag, Mr. Matilal Bhattacharya and Dr. Susmi
Banerjea.Theynotonlysupportedusbutalsocontributedactivelywithtechnicalinformationoncur-
rent industrialpractices. Their constructivecriticisms time and again were invaluable.
The constant encouragement received from our colleagues Prof. Sunando Dasgupta, Prof.
Somenath Ganguly and several others kept us going. Throughout the period, Prof. B. C. Meikap
andProf.SudiptoChakrabortysupporteduswiththeirconstantcooperationandpertinentsuggestions.
ManyofourpersonalfriendsincludingProf.AnandPatwardhan,Dr.MohitRay,Prof.BitastaChanda
and Prof. G. Harikrishnan didnot letus lose ourfocus in difficulttimes.
Overtheyearsofteaching,ourstudentshaveexpressedtheneedforacomprehensivereferencetext
addressingdifferentaspectsofaprocessbeingdesigned.Theirnumerousfeedbackhasresultedinthis
book.Weproudlyacknowledgetheirinquisitiveexpressionsandaregratefulforthesame.Severalof
ourstudents,nowworkinginindustry,guidedustoshapethecontentwiththeirideasontherequire-
ment from industry perspective. The names of Dr. Balaram Suman, Dr. Sahil Malhotra, Mr. Harshit
Madan andMr AbhishekP. are only a fewinthe endless list.
The authors acknowledge Mr. Lawrence Lindsay, Ms. Anita Koch, Ms. Sheela Bernardine Josy,
Mr.ChandramohanPaulPrasadandtheteamfromM/sElsevierwhoborewithusoverthelongyears
andaccededtoourdemandingrequests.Withouttheirsupport,publicationofthisbookwouldnever
havebeen possible.
TheauthorsappreciatethesupportofIndianInstituteofTechnologyforthiswonderfulexperience.
SubhabrataacknowledgeshisearlieremployersM/sIndianOilCorporationandM/sTECHNIP-ESIA
for allowing himthe opportunity oflearningin industrialenvironment.
Long hours of occupation by the authors working on the book have been borne patiently by our
family members.Theirpatience andunstinted supportis gratefully acknowledged.
Subhabrata Ray andGargiDas
Department of ChemicalEngineering
IndianInstituteof Technology Kharagpur
xxi
SECTION
I
Introduction to
process design
Successfuldesignisnottheachievementofperfection
buttheminimisationandaccommodationofimperfection
eHenryPetroski
CHAPTER
1
General aspects of process design
1.1 Process
An industrial process converts feed material to useful product(s) of desired quality in commercial
scale.Thestepsinvolvedinsuchaprocessneedtobetechnicallyviable,safe,andeconomical.Such
stepsinvolveheat,mass,momentumtransfer,andchemicalreaction,independentlyorincombination.
Aprocessisalwaysdesignedtoperformaspecificfunction.Suchataskcanbeheatingofamaterial
fromaninitialtoafinaltemperature,mixingofseveralstreamstoachievehomogeneity,separationofa
multicomponent material stream or chemical conversion of a reactor feed to products and their sub-
sequentseparation.
Simple processes are usually centered around one single or
major equipment. Auxiliary equipment may be required to
Simpleandcomplexprocesses
completethefunctionality.Examplesofsimpleprocessescanbe:
Process Equipment Auxiliaryequipment
Heatingofastream Heat Pump,pipefittings
exchanger
Sievingforseparationofsolids Sieve
Receivingofnaphthafromberthedtankerstoshoretanks Pumpand Storagetanksatberth,ifrequired
anditstransportationtoapetrochemicalplantafew pipeline
kilometersaway
Captureofhydrocarbonsolventvaporfromaprocessby Packedbed Blowers,piping,andpipefittings
adsorptioninanactivatedcarbonbed
Separationofamixtureofbenzeneandtolueneby Distillation Heatexchangers(reboiler,
distillation column condenser),pump,andpipefittings
Dryingofcompressedairforsupplytoinstruments Drier Compressor,filter,pump,andpipe
fittings,compressedairstorage
Complex processes constitute of several simpler processes. The process plant converting raw
material to product streams may involve reaction, separation by distillation, extraction, absorption,
3
ProcessEquipmentandPlantDesign.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814885-3.00001-4
Copyright©2020ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
4 Chapter 1 General aspects of process design
drying, filtration, or for that matter any number of “unit operations” and/or “unit processes.” Such
examplescan be:
• Productionof common salt involvingcrystallization,evaporation, filtration, etc.
• Effluent treatment inplants employingseveralprocesses requiredfor removal of specific
pollutantspresent
• Coke oven plant thatproducescoke ofdifferent gradesand by-products,starting from coal
• Catalytic hydro-desulfurizationofnaphthathat involves reactors andseparation systems
• Air separation planttoproduceoxygen and nitrogeninvolvingcompression, Joule-Thomson
cooling, liquefaction anddistillation
• Distilleryconsistingof several processes like fermentation, distillation, etc. toproducethe
saleable product“spirit.”
Large chemical complexes contain several interlinked plants/processes. Each plant produces
stream(s) that is either a marketable product or is feed stream to another plant within the complex.
There are multiple streams of raw materials, products and by-products within the complex. The
“chemicalcomplex”asawholeproduces“products”thataremarketable.Asexamplesoflargeprocess
complexes,oneoftentalksabouttheSteelPlant,FertilizerPlant,PetroleumRefinery,etc.Forexample,
inapetroleumrefinery,crudeoilisfractionatedtoseveralcomponentstreamsinitsCrudeDistillation
Unit (CDU). Althoughthe main operation,inthis case, is “distillation,”the facilitycontainsprocess
steps,suchaspreheatingofcrudeoilinaheatexchangernetworkwithvarioushotstreams,heatingof
crude oil in a furnace before it enters the distillation column, washing of some of the streams with
causticsolutionandsubsequentlywithwatertoremovesulfurousimpuritiesandsoon.Severalprocess
plants like cracking units,hydrotreating unit, etc., in arefinery complex,further process the streams
fromthe CDU.
Aprocesscanbedesignedtooperatein“batchmode”orin“continuousmode.”Batchprocessesfor
thesameannualcapacitywillrequirebiggerequipmentbutoffergreatercontrolontheprocess.Batch
operationsarepreferredwhentheprocessingcapacityislow,butthe
required control over process parameters is stricter. Also, when the
product value is high compared to the investment in the plant
BatchvsContinuous equipment, the economical option is often a batch process. These
processesalso offergreatervariation andflexibilityinthe use ofthe
equipmentanditsoperation.Asanexample,abatchdryerfordrying
aspecificproductcanbeutilizedfordryingotherproductswhenever
it is free. Widespread applications of batch processes in the pharmaceutical industry dealing with
relatively lower processing capacity and requiring stringent quality control, clearly illustrate these
facts.Incontrast,acontinuousplantwillrequiresmallerequipmentforthesameannualcapacity.This
allows attainment of higher processing capacity for the same investment. Most large scale/high ca-
pacityindustrieslikefertilizer,steel,petroleumrefining,petrochemicalsarecontinuousprocessplants
asit turns outtobe the more economicoption.
Some plants withlowtomoderate capacity use combinations ofthe batch,as well ascontinuous
processes.Intheseplants,theoutputstreamsfromthebatchprocessarestoredandprocessedlaterin
thecontinuousprocesses.Insomeplants,theorderofprocessingmaybereversed.Useofcontinuous
process avoids interruptions in processing that entail spending energy to start and shut down the
process.Processingstepsthattakelongertimeoraredifficulttocontrolorrequirecloserchecksand
controls operate in “batch mode.”
