AIChE Design Project Tutorial: Common Unit Processes and, Qualitatively, their Basic Functions. Winter 2015. Pumps and Compressors. Pump PFD Symbol(s) lowp ; > hin p Gebthey.'] Compressor PFD Symbol(s) toup | ~~, Wphp lo Pump. *Pressurizes a liquid. *Necessary to get a liquid to flow. *Most common type of pump: centrifugal, uses impeller to whip fii into action. Compressor. *Pressurizes a gas. *Pumps generally not compatible with gases; compressors not compatible with liquids. Equipment can get damaged. Hydraulics in general. *Fluids flow from high p to low p; as fluid travels through pipelines and | vessels, its p drops; hence, this is why pumps and compressors are | necessary to keep a plant running. *Drop in p is synonymous with energy loss: must supply electrical energy to pump/compressor. -Generally cheaper to pump liquid than to compress gas. AlizAu +BCrY) = Au + Xap (og ~sa spe Badly dhe Tas + Vp pee ee Sayyl, Mace ges mek layer oS thee Uges energy do 54hHeat Exchangers and Fired Heaters. HX PFD Symbol(s: ired Heater PFD Symbol(s’ Wak Fle pe G5 T2308 ee Tht BL Cool Flods Qoeenk » Talos (05,7 Tex) v hig T Wot Flea pe G ys Vatest) fuel Heat exchanger (HX). *Brings two streams into thermal contact, allowing them to exchange energy. *T of the stream gaining energy may rise while T of the stream losing energy may fall. T= constant for latent phase change. *Energy flows from high T to low T; quantity of energy fluid holds proportional to c,*T or latent heat if phase change occurs (e.g. AHyap). *A HX that condenses (vap -> liq) a fluid using cooling H2O or refrigerant often called “condenser”. Fired heater (a. ‘urnace! *Brings a stream into thermal contact with burning fuel (highly exothermic reaction). *HX may be limited in terms of T that can be achieved. Burning a fuel can lead to much higher T. een be braslt oFes bybas bedvesn Ie enaReactors. Rxr PFD Symbol(s’ Vobeler, pected Wobsler A cotelygt lo catalyst ~ —ED—- of Suitee T & cae *Vessel within which rxn takes place. *May need to be loaded with catalytic materials. Choice of catalyst(s) critical minimize side reactions and maximize reactant conversion -E.g. 2CHg + %O2 -> C2Hg + H20 vs. CHg + (3/2)O2 -> CO + 2H20; catalyst of La2O3-CeO; is better for first rxn, of LazO3-CeO,-Ir better for 2nd. *Design parameters: vessel size (e.g. length, diameter), T, p, and, if the reaction is catalytic, catalyst size, packing, etc. Common types of reactors: *Stirred tank: fluids vigorously mixed *Tubular: essentially no mixing -Differ by nature of fluid flow, which can impact the reaction kinetics. Some processes are suited for tubular, others for stirred tank. FYI: “catalytic fixed bed tubular rxr” — tubular reactor loaded with stationary catalyst; by contrast, “catalytic fluidized bed rxr” — mixed reactor with catalyst or second phase that moves around. *Common for products of rxr to be recycled back to inlet to increase reactant conversion. Need a purge stream in recycle loop to eliminate inerts, byproducts or possible impurities that may have no way of exiting the recycle loop (may accumulate over time). — te FETE tne ~ Ree Sepenter V CornealFlash Drum Flash PFD Symbol(s! Vor Ulebile wei F © pm bat | SOD On eber , Cone 7) epee + (Ee ea e *Used for the separation of a stream containing multiple phases. *Simplest case: vapor-liquid mixture; but all sorts of combinations possible: -Liquid-liquid (e.g. oil, HO) -Vapor-liquid-liquid (e.g. gas, oil, H20). -Other combinations possible. The more complex the mixture, the more challenging the design is. *The creation of the multi-phase mixture is performed upstream (before) the flash drum (e.g. via condensation or heating with HX). *Flash drum provides carefully designed space for the mixture to completely separate. -Consider the case of separating a vapor-liquid mixture of hydrocarbons. Upon creation of the two phase mixture, you have a stream with vapor bubbles mixed with the liquid. Those bubbles need to be separated out because a stream with both phases mixed together could jeopardize the proper functioning of the rest of the plant, or in the worst case, damage downstream (later) process units. As Flour decveli cles de eo? 20 . eo? hae vepor bobble lovbhles rece. none ce oe SF | — SI 208 og ep A3 Zz Distillation (pg. 1/2). Distillation PFD Symbol(s) “y.-etren ser” eee Cu coolny wl wl dhl conterser wy w\ Gea : Iga Azllese wl Gun CL genes hyweu Fignt os bigs bebdecs eave CaMerCathe ste Bet condenser = veper feed Tek Ferkerent! ae Pes ker Dilegteetinn sf Comber olen ee Cp Cornet 8 | fh Rech La Fee oo Cl oawlap [**Simplest way to imagine distillation column: -Feed is partially vaporized (liquid + vapor). Enters column, liquid falls, vapor rises. -At column’s top, rising vapor is condensed and partially “refluxed” back down. -At bottom, falling liquid is partially vaporized; vapor returned back up through column (“boil-up”). -Intense counter-current vapor-liquid contacting occurs in column | -At any point, rising vapor is hotter than falling liquid. Heat transfer occurs, partially condensing vapor and partially vaporizing liquid, causing material to exchange between streams. -Product withdrawn from top = “distillate”, from bottom = “bottoms” or “condensate”. *More effective than flash: higher purities, but more energy intensive/costly and more design parameters (e.g. degree of reflux) -Due to counter-current contacting, can theoretically get perfect separation if column were infinitely tall. Impossible for flash. *Simple distillation columns have a single feed and two products. However, more advanced columns can have additional feeds or products and other fittings. *Top of column can have: -Total condenser: liquid distillate produced, liquid reflux. -Partial condenser: vapor distillate produced, liquid reflux. *Almost all columns produce liquid bottoms with partial reboiler. K Cen be tered CAserte| or pocket Comtinee-s)Distillation (pg. 3/3). *Separation is based on relative volatility of components in mixture (see reading assignment + problem). -More volatile (lighter) components tend to like the rising vapor; less volatile (heavier) components tend to like the falling liquid -Example: feed has C2He, C3Hg, C4Hio in roughly equal amounts. You can produce distillate of C,Hg with bottoms of C3Hg, CqHio; this column is called a “de-ethanizer”; You can also produce distillate of CzHg, C3Hs, a “de-propanizer”; you cannot produce a distillate primarily composed of C2He, CaHio with bottoms of C3Hg since CqHio is more volatile than C3Hs. Eithane povPene = > Mg eg) De popenizer (tight bey :) Wightkey” thease Compinent Cy, Ngee CEH lest volute Kuen Cy!Absorption and stripping. Absorber/stripper PFD Symbol(s) bake Ra air (Saleh Meet Me of He Trey ed Steger Seleents meg Aujohe Cech othe, or ort feet £0 olgM iealy ne vl bes be! ue ) *Counter-current vapor-liquid contacting like distillation *Differences with distillation: -Simple absorber/stripper has no condenser or reboiler (i.e. no reflux or boil-up). -Feed usually introduced at top or bottom of column; distillation usually somewhere in middle. -Concerned about transport of solute from one solvent to another (e.g. stripping of hydrocarbon in H20 using air). In distillation, no distinct solute or solvent; trying to purify basically everything. *Absorption: solute transported from gas solvent to liquid solvent *Stripping: solute transported from liquid solvent to gas solvent -Hence, for stripping of hydrocarbon from H20 using air to work, air must have higher solubility for hydrocarbon than H20. *Absorber/stripper can be fitted with condenser or reboiler. *Distillation can be thought of refluxed absorber combined with reboiled stripper. K Con cto be ear peeledTurbine PFD Symbol(s) *Opposite of a compressor, extracts energy from a gas instead of adding energy; hence, gas is depressurized and/or cooled. Valve PFD Symbol(s} len ID} Valves. *Partially closed valve restricts flow, depressurizes fluid -Either gas or liquid -No energy extracted like with turbine *Fully closed valve blocks flow, redirects it wGonetines exclscd Romy PP bs especially prelininny desync Mixer PED Symbol(s} Mixers. *Blends two streams together *Especially useful if two streams are of different phases or compositions eto uniformize it. | Re es wp | Aes Pweneal Ment sceurs BY ween MEANS |