‘sinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 CORNENEEING BUSINESS & ECONOMICS FAVORITE ror HEURISTICS RULES FOR PROCESS EQUIPMENT BY, Durand, Miguel, G. Barroso, M. Garcia, and. Angeles | October 1, 2006 Provided that they ae updated when appropriate to keep them relevant, time-tested heutstis rulesbased upon experience, also referred to.as rules of thumb, canbe useful fr the design, specifying and operation of several kinds of equipment used in process plants, The first and foremost heuristic rule i that the engineer should not shy away from using heuristics ~ and the second rule is that he or she should nat rely blindly upon them. Presented here area wide range of heuristic, clasified according to major kinds of tical process equipment or activity, Fluid bandling, + Fans are sutable for ralsing gas pressures moderately (for instance, by 3%, or by 12 In. of water}; for higher pressures up tc about 40 psig, ‘lowers ate sultable; for yet higher pressures, employ compressors (however there isoverlap between the operating ranges of blawers and compressors) + ‘Typical polytropic efficiencies for large centrifugal compressors are about 76 to 78%; rotary compressors normally have efi 70%, except for liquid-sealed ones, which have efficiencies around 50% nches, typical fluid velocities and pressure drops areas follows: (5+ D/3) fs, and 2psi/ico ft; (b)at pump suction (liquid): (13 + D/S) (sand o.4 psi/1c0 ft; (© for team or gas, 20D fs and 0.5 psi/100 ft + Control valves function best I the pressure drop through them sat least 10 pst + Sinle-staye centrifugal pumps can uperate at rates uf up to about 5,000 gain (and to me operate to abut 1,000 ga is tun heads uf 500 ft); multistage pumps cat hitps www. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rulas-or-pracess-equipment rysirono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 Conveying of particulate solids © Screw conveyors: (2) Can transport solids that are abrasive or sti (€) Typical incline is about 20 deg (Most are15¢ ft or ess in length (@) Witha conveyor of12-in, diameter, throughputs of up to about 3,000 ft3/h ae feasible; typically, screw rotation rates are upto about 60 revs (© Bower consumption relatively low © Bucket elevators: (@) Vertical transport of abrasive or sticky materials is feasible (€) Typically speeds can reach 100 to 300 ft/min at 100 ft/min, bucket elevators with 20%20-1 3 buckets can convey about 3,000 f3/h Drag type conveyor (@ Can convey for relatively short distances in any direction, (€) Have high power requirements (© Typical speeds ate 30 ft/min (for, eg. ly ash) to-250 ft/min (for grains) Pneumatic conveyars: (@) They offer high capacity (€) Usually employed with conveying distances of 400 ft cr less (© Can transport simultanecusly to several destinations (@) operate under vacuum or low pressures (© Typical conveying-gas velocities ate 35 0170 ft/s cooling towers © Infullscale units, air saturation can teach 60% © ‘Tominimize pressure drop (ordinarily a maximum of 2in, water), employ an open-structured material for the tower il © ypical water circulation tates are tt 4 gal oo ftjnin hitpsiwww.chemengonline.comMhaursties-rules-or-pracess-equipment 22 per square fut, wheteas the ar rates ate1,300 t 1,800 Ib/l per square faut 300 tosinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 © Countercurrent induced-daft towers, which can cool water to about 2°F above the wet-bulb temperature, ate the most prevalent version of tower used inthe process industries © Foragiven service, the requited size (volume) ofa given tower is function ofthe difference between the wet-bulb and the exit ‘temperatures; the smaller the difference, the larger the required volume © Evaporati towers ty oss are typically 9% of the circulation for every 100°F of coling range Windage or drift losses in mechanical-draft lly amount to 0 to 0.9% Tokeep salt from building up excessively, itis typical to blow down 25 to 3% ofthe cculation Heat exchangers; refrigeration «+ Inashell-and-tube exchanger, the tube ske is fer corrosive, fuling, scaling and/or high-pressure fluids; the shel side is for viscous andor condensing fluids + Typical minimum temperature approaches are 20°F with normal coolants, or 19°F or less with refrigerants + Ordinary, the maximumheat=transfer area for shell and tube heat exchangers fs about 5,009 ft2 ‘+ When refrigerating to temperatures below about ~ 80°F, itis customary to use cascades of two or mote refrigeration stages Bvaporators © ‘Themaintaining ofa suitable temperature gradient (for instance, about 45°F) can minimize flm-elated efficiency loses. From an efficiency standpoint, about 250 Btu/(hy.2) isa suitable overall coefficient of heat transfer © Incountercurrent evaporation systems, asultable temperature approach between the inlet (hot) and cutput (cold) streams is about 30°. In mulkistage operation, the typical minimum value is 10°F © Inawell-designed evapotator system, it should be possible to achieve heat recoveries of mote than 75% storage tanks For less than 100 gal it is comman practice to use vertical tanks an legs © orbetween 100 and 10,000 ga, horizontal tanks on concrete supports are commanly used hitps www. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rules-or-pracess-equipment a2sinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 «Far beyond 10,000 gal, consider vertical tanks on concrete foundations © Liquids that ae subject to breathing losses may conveniently be stored in tank with floating or expansion roofs, for conservation © Although the amount of materi als and products alike inventoried ishighly plant~specific, many process plants specify 30 days worth of capacity, for raw © Liquid drumsusually are horizontal Drums for gas-liquid separation are vertical Alength-to~diameter ratio of 3s considered optimal; but in practice, the ratio for drums commonly falls between 2.5 and 5.0 © Iniguid-liquid separation, reflux drums are usually kept about half ful, with holdup time of about § min. (or § to 10 min ithe drum liquid is fed to adownstream separation tower) © For entrainment removal, mesh pad of 4012 i. thickness can achieve 99% removal; thickness of 6 © Instirred tank reactors, referable to maintain aliquid level that is approximately equal to the tank diameter Common motives for conducting batch reactions, instiered-tank reactor, are: the dally production rate is velatvely low; teaction ‘times are relatively long; particular process parameters such as the feed rate or the vessel temperature, must be programmed during the course of the reaction © anattay of continuous reactions of red-tank reactors in series four cr five, for instance) isin many cases the system of choice for slow © Tubular reactors are attractive fr short-residence-time reactions (seconds or minutes), high throughputs, and reactions that require relatively large amount of heat transfer Distillation and gas absorption Generally speaking, distillation tends to be the most ecenomical method for liquid-liquid separation; mere so, fr instance, than liquid-liquid extracticn or crystallization. Flashing can be more economical than distillation, but is more limited physical hitps Awww. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rulas-or-pracess-equipment anasinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 properties of the mixture “The well-kmown simple equation for relative volatility — relative volatility = (vapor pressure of more volatile omponent)/(vapor pressure ofless-volatle companent) ~ i valid only fr ideal mixtures tem s ideal and there re only two components, the MicCabe~Thiele method offers a good approximation to the number of rium stages “The mest common determinant ofthe column operating pressure ‘many cases, cooling water at about 100 to 120°F) or the maximum allowable reboiler temperature (fr instance, 366°F for 150-psig steam) For many separations, the o In many cases, the ecenemlcally optimal numberof trays equals twice the minimum number of trays ceflux pumps should be oversized about 25% From amaintenance standpoint, tray spacings of about 20 to 24 in. are attractive ‘Typical pressure drop per tray i of the order of 3 in, of water of 0.1 psi Fr separation of light hydrocarbons and aquecus solutions, the tay efficlencles are typically 60 to 90% for distillation, and 10 to 20% for gas absorption and stripping For atypical sieve tray the holes are 0.25-0.50| jameter, and the holeareais about one-tenth af the active cross-section area Fora typical valve tray, theholes ate about 1.5 in, dlameter, each outfitted with a iftable cap; there are typically 12 to 1% caps per square foot of active tray cross-section ‘The typical height ofa column weit is 2 in, the weir length is usually about 75% of the tray diameter; maximum liquid rate is about 8 gal/min, per inch of weir; for high liquid rates, multipass arrangement are often the choice For towers of les than 3 diameter and whete low pressure drop through the tower is desirable, packings (random or structured) re commonly preferted aver trays. Ifthe packing is initially distributed with care and is periodically redistributed, the volumettic efficiency can be greater than that of acomparable tray tower ‘Most reflux drums are horizontal, kept about haf full, and have a liquid heldup of 5 min For 3-ft-diameter towers, about 4 tof column height should be added atthe top for vapor disengagement, and 6 ft atthe bottom for Due te wind-loading and other structural conskderations, towers should be no higher than about 175 ft. Furthermore, the ratio of tewer height te diameter shouldbe less than 30, hitps www. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rules-or-pracess-equipment sizsinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 ‘Liquid-liqui extraction © Ordinarily, the phase with the greater volumetric flowrate should be the dispersed phase; however, in extractors subject to bbackmixing, the phase with the lower flowrate should instead be dispersed, It is also preferable thatthe dispersed phase be the one that wets the equipment less well. Finally, because the holdup of continucus phase is usually the greater, itis desirable that that phase consist ofthe less expensive and/or less hazardous material © For separations achievable in relatively few stages (5 to10 for instance), packed extraction towers offer advantages, unless the surface tension exceeds 10 dynes/cm, It is possible to achieve attractive HETS values (5 to 10 ft, for example). Dispersed-phase loadings should not exceed 25 gal/ft2)(min), and the dispersed phase shouldbe redistributed every 5t07 ft ® Sleve tray on extraction colurnns typically have holes of only 3- to &-mm diameter. Velocities through the holes should kept below ‘bout 0.8 fs to minimize formation of excessively small drops. Typical tay spacings ate 6 to 2, in. typical tray efficiencies ae in the range of 20 0 30% Crystallization from solution Whether melt crystallization cr crystallization from solution fs employed, the maximum recovery of sclids limited by the eutectic composition © Crystal growth rates and the final crystal size are both controlled by limiting the extent of supersaturation in the liquid «It is good operating practice to hold the liquid temperature ata few Fahrenheit degrees below the saturation temperature for the prevaling concentration Filtration + Acrenient way to classify the ease ofa given filtration tasks to measure the rte of cake buildup on alaberatory vacuum leat filter: 0.1 to 10 cm/s indicates rapid filtration; 0. tc 10 cm/min, mediumspeed filtration; and o.1 to 10 cm/h, slow filtration + Selection of the filtration methed fora given task depends partly on whether the liquid phase ox the solid phase s the one of value, Among the suitable methods the liquid phase are filter presses, sand filters and pressure filters. Ifthe solid phase s desired, consider rotary vacuum filters Drying of solids + Continuous tray and belt dryers for natural or pelletized 3 ~ 15-mm granular matetial commonly have drying times inthe range of 10-200min + rum dryers that handle pastes and sluties operate with contact times of 3-12 seconds, generating flakes that are 1-3mm thick; common evaporation tates are 15 to 3 kh/(m2}(h). Commonly found diameters ae 1.5 to 5.0 ft; comman rotation rates are 219 hitps Awww. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rulas-or-pracess-equipment wizsinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 rev/min; evaporative capacities as high as about 3,000 Ibfh are feasible in full-sale installations + Fluidized-bed dryers worlcbest on very small pattcles, with diameters of afew tenths of a millimeter; but this technique has also been used successfully with particles of up to 4 mm diameter. suitable velocity forthe fluidization gas twice the ‘minimum requited for fluidization. In mary continuous operations, dying times of 1-2 min are suficient, but some products (cluding some pharmaceuticals) require much longer + Most spray dryers complete their takcin less than one minute; infact, the surface moisture is usually remeved within the fist 5 The wet feed and the drying air are most commonly fed in parallel. The atomizing nozzles typically operate a pressures of 300 to 400 psi and have openings that measure 0.12 too Sizereduction + Ballor roller mills ae commonly set upto operate in a closed ci oversize tothe mi includes size classification and the return ofthe ' Roll crushers come in two versions: either smecoth or with teeth. A 24-in, tocthed crusher can accommedate pieces of feed as largeas7 in. n radius, Smooth rolls achieve reduction ratios of about fourfld, Retation speeds ate typically 0 te Goo rev/min + Toproduce particularly small particles, consider hammer i rev/min Large units operate at 900 rev/min small ones can reach 16,000, + od mils usually feed on particles of aout 50-mm size, The material is usually reduced to about 865 mesh, but reduction to 300 mesh achievable + Bor fine grinding, censter hall mils, he mls oe pee mils The last-named are the chle when metal contamination imuistbe aveided + orjaw crushers, the feed fs usually under jin. diameter; typically, about eight to ten strokes are needed to achieve the required size reduction, Gyratory crushers can produce particles that ate more rounded Mixing and agitation + Sclids with alow setting velocity (such as 0.03 ft/s} can be successfully suspended with either turbine or propeller agitators; suspension of solids with settling velocities greater than 0.5 ft/s requires vigorous agitation with a propeller ‘When only brief contact time (such as 1 2) is required ketween two components, ilineblending should prove adequate. Typical power inputs are 0 to 0.2 hp/eal + Small propellers are usually tun at abcut 1,500 to 1,750 rev/min, large ones a about 06 to $00 rev/min. + Paddle agitators typically employ paddles that extend to about So to 80% ofthe inside diameter ofthe vessel. Typically, the rate oftotation les between 20 and 150 rev/min hitps www. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rules-or-pracess-equipment m2sinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 ‘Agglomeration + Scme major methods of particle siz enlargement are: compression into a mold extrusion through adie followed by cutting or breaking to size; globule formation from molten material followed by solidification; and agglomeration under tumbling cr other conditions of agitation without abinding agent + For rotating-drum granulators typical length-to-diameter atios are2 t 3 rotational speeds are 10 to 20 rev/min, and the itch as great a 10 deg. The size ofthe produced granules depends in part onthe rotational speed, the residence time andthe amount ofbinder. Commonly, the produced granules are 2o 5 mm in diameter "= Euniformity of produc size is important, rotary disk granulators are preferable to drum granulators, other things equal + For roll compacting and briquetting, typical rlls measure from 139-mm diameter by 30 mm wide to about 900-mm diameter by '55¢ mmwide, The material extruded by the rolls, typleally about 1mm thick, can be broken into any size desired + Rotary compression equipment, feeding upon powders or granules and typically operating at around 100 rev/min, is suitable for producing tablets of uniform size, at rates a high as 10,0c0 tabets/min. + Fluiaized-bed granulation is typically careied out in beds having a depth of 120 24 fn. Typical ak velocities axe 0.4 025m, ‘whichis three to ten times the minimum velocity needed fer fluidization ‘Clickchere for full paf version of this article includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information | Related Content [A VOLUMETRIC SCREW FEEDER FOR CONFINED WORKSPACES. The new Model VMIF-G0A volumetric screw feeder (photo) is designed for automated additive dosing in water treatment and chemical processes. Rotary valve conttuls the flow uf powders and granules The Copetion ZRD Heavy-Duty Prema rotary vale (pluto) is designed f.. HANDLING BULK SOLIDS level detector has mercury-ftee tilt switch The patent-pending BM-TSM tlt switch (photo) used for high-level detection of powders and blk. ‘BULK SOLIDS: OPTIMIZING SCREW CONVEVORS Despite thei apparent simplicity, the complexity of these conveying systems demands proper. principles. PNEUMATIC CONVEVING: OPTIMAL SYSTEM DESIGN, OPERATION AND CONTROL, "Numerous strategies and options for both dilute- and dense-phase conveying systems are presented here Pneumatic conweying isa ubiquitous. ignand anunderstanding ofthe underlying hitps Awww. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rulas-or-pracess-equipment anasinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 Comments Chemical Engineering Recommend —Wiweet_—F Shave @ startthe discussion... = Loc in wire ‘on SioN uP vara orsaus @) Name Be the frst to comment subscribe © Asa vinus to yoursteAcd Dagushss B Diag’ Privacy PaliyPeacyPolyPrnacy D Losin - Sortby Best » SEARCH, BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGIES [ACONTROL VALVE WITH BUILT-IN FLOWMETER RECHARGEABLE MNO2-ZN BATTERIES WITH A HIGHER VOLTAGE ANEW PLATFORM FOR ATMOSPHERIC MONITORING ‘SYMMETRICAL FUEL-CELL DESIGN SIMPLIFIES CO2 CONVERSION MAKING CHEMICALS BY ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS ‘CONVERTING HAZARDOUS PHENOLS INTO LUCIFERIN REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM THE MANUFACTURING OF CARBON FIBERS MODIFYING WASTE BIOMASS TO CATALYTICALLY DEGRADE POLLUTANTS hitps www. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rules-or-pracess-equipment onsirono1g Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 ‘Chemical Engineering publishes FREE elettrs that bring our orignal content to aur readersin an easly accessible email format about once a week Penta Hae You Be Experience /.chemengonline.com/videos/have- n-anxiety-2/) CoN NENT! (GEMU: Pharma/Biotech- Multport valve block stainless steel (exept chemengoniine.comWvideos/gemu-pharmabiotech-mult-portvale-block-stanless-steel) hitps www. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rules-or-pracess-equipment soresinono19 Heuristics Rules fr Process Equipment - Chemical Englering | Page 1 More from GEMU-+ Vviseos/ag=gem) Pir Greer ET a Emersor's Rosemount 4700 Series of Magnetic low Meters prepsiowechemengonline.comivideas/emersanrosemount-700-sries-of magnetic slevemeters/) More from Emerson = Wideos!"aguemerson) View Allvideos » (videos Whatis Improving chemical praduction processes with loT and Al technologies ‘New filtration technology for highly corrsive media PTA production: Lowering OPEX without compromising on quality ‘Sure that zero means zero in your erorliquld discharge (ZLD) process? hitps Awww. chemengonline.comMhaursties-rules-or-pracess-equipment ninesinono19 Heuristics Rules for Process Equipment - Chemical Engineering | Page 4 How separation processes profit rom Industral Internet of Things (oT solutions Home Magazine count subscribe sobs sstemap Buyers’ Guide archives Upcoming Show Previews Connect, Webinars Sponsored Content Events & Announcements White Papers ‘Advertising & Meal Ke Networking & Discussion Groups Career Tools Eeltoral Submissions and Upcomings About AboutUs wards Prvacy Policy FAQs contact Fahors Comments Copyrignt Policy & Permissions ths pubic fer infenateral poses rly cerin aes cet thea. tres pesos econmerdter UBICATION I SELYATYOUROMN 3K AIRS ered itpsswww.chemengontine.comMhoursties-1ulos-or-process-oquipmont rane