Flow sheeting

Objectives:
1. Learn how to draw a qualitative flow sheet for a process from given process
description.
2. Learn how to read a flow sheet for a process and describe it.

Plant equipment
Plant equipment provides detail on number of commonly used process units; e.g.,
chemical reactors, heat exchangers, columns of various types (distillation, absorption,
adsorption, evaporation, extraction), dryers and grinds.

Equipment representation and its role

Chemical reactors:
Chemical reactor is considered heart of the process as it is the place where raw
materials (reactants) transforms to products through a chemical reaction, these
products could be final or intermediate compounds used in the following steps of the
industrial process.

1. Types of reactors:
Classification according to operation mode:
1. Batch Reactors.
2. Continuous Reactors.

1. Batch reactors
In these reactors feed is supplied (feeding or charging), then the reactors is closed and
left for certain period for reaction to take place, then discharging, thus production is
done as batch wise.

2. Continuous reactor
In these reactors there is always input and output in the same time, i.e., there is
always reactant feed in the same time there is output.

1
Types of reactors
1. Vessel or tank reactor

Input
Input

Heating
medium in e.g.
steam

Heating medium
out e.g.
condensate

output
output
1.Continuous stirred 2. Continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with
tank reactor (CSTR) heating jacket
Vertical agitated vessel

Input

Coolant out

Coolant in e.g.
Water

output

3. Continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with cooling jacket

2
 Input Input

Heating
Coolant in e.g.
medium in
Water
steam or hot
oil

Heating Coolant
medium out out

output
output

4. Vertical Vessel (reactor) with heating 5. Vertical Vessel (reactor) with

coil and agitation cooling coil and agitation
Input Liquid feed

Heating
coil

gas feed
output

6. Vertical vessel with immersed heater 7. Fixed (or packed) bed reactor

3
 Steam

Liquid or condensate
gas feed
8. Fluidized bed reactor 9. Jacketed tubular reactor (jacket
heating)
Cooling water out

10. Jacket cooled tubular reactor

Note: on cooling feed water is from
bottom

Cooling water in

2. Tanks (Storage or holding tanks)

Tanks are used to handle raw materials or products which usually is in the form of
liquid or gas

Horizontal vessel

1. Vertically Cylindrical tank (or

2. Horizontal Vessel
vessel)

3. Spherical storage tank

Usually used for gas storage

4
3. Heat Transfer equipment
1. Heater
It is just used for heating fluids without changing its state

Steam

Steam or
hot oil heating coil

Fuel – fired heater

2. Boilers
Heating is done so all liquid is vaporized

Liquid Vapor

Steam or
hot oil

5
3. Reboiler
Part of the liquid is only evaporated.

L L

Steam or
hotoil
4. Cooler
Used to decrease fluid temperature without change in state

H2O
5. Condenser
Used to completely condensate vapor to liquid

V L

H2O

6
6. Heat Exchanger
Used to exchange heat between two fluid mediums one hot and the other is cold, the
most famous type is shell and tube heat exchanger
For heating:
Steam

Input Out put

Condensate
For cooling
Input “ Feed”

Coolant in Coolant out

“H2O” “H2O”

Out put
Note: usually hot fluid is in the shell, while the cold one is in the tubes.

7
7. Vaporizers
Where pure liquids transfer to vapor
vapor
liq
feed
Steam
steam
L V

condensate
Condensate

Horizontal Vaporizer Vertical Vaporizer

8. Evaporator
Used to concentrate certain solution by evaporating portion of the solvent
Single effect evaporator
Vapor

Feed
Steam

Condensate

Concentrated liquid

8
4. Transport equipment
1. for liquids
Pumps is used for liquid transporting from equipment to another

2. for gases
A. Compressors
Used to transport gases with increasing its pressure and velocity

Or

B. Blowers
Used just to transport gases.

Pipe lines
Presented by either vertical or horizontal line in the flow sheet

9
Any industrial operation, chemical, physical or biological takes place on some steps
named "Unit operations"
Example:
Distillation, Drying, and crystallization.

Distillation:
It is an operation whereby components of liquid mixture are separated by boiling
depending on the boiling point difference between each components. This process
takes places in Distillation tower or fractionating column.
Condenser As the feed enters the column
which is composed of two or
more liquid mixtures separation
process takes place, the
Top produet or component of low boiling point
overhead product is obtained at top which is
known as the more volatile
Preheater
Feed component.
From the bottom the less volatile
component is obtained.
Steam Vapor

Reboiler

Bottom
Steam Product
Absorption
It is a process where a component is removed from gas stream by treatment with
liquid, and to make this take place the liquid and gas has to be in intimate contact so
it can dissolve the desired component.
Absorption tower:
Its one type of packed towers.
gas outlet
Note:
Liquid This process is called scrubbing and the
inlet equipment is named scrubber

gas inlet

Liquid
outlet

10
Adsorption
It is separation process for gas mixture or liquid mixture by using solid substance
known as (Adsorbent). As the mixture passes on the adsorbent it separates the desired
component from the mixture. e.g. Removal of heavy metals (nickel, copper,
cadmium) from plant wastewater using activated carbon. The process requires
intimate contact between adsorbate and adsorbent.
Adsorption depends mainly on the surface area of adsorbent.
Liquid
feed

Bed made of solid

material where
adsorption takes place
on its surface

gas feed

Fixed or Fluidized
bed towers

11
Drying
It is an operation through which volatile material (usually water) from solid materials
(wet materials).

Hot air In
Hot air outlet

Hot air inlet

hotain out

Crystallization
Refers to removal of a solute such as a salt from a solution by precipitating it from
the solution.

Coolant
In

Coolant
out

Crystallizer

12
Evaporation
An evaporator deals with evaporation of a volatile solvent such as water from a non
volatile salt such as salt.
It takes place in an evaporator, either single effect, or double effect or triple effect
evaporator (multiple effect evaporator).
Vapor Vapor Vapor

steam steam
Feed steam

Candensate

Concentrated
liquid [ solvtion]
Settler
Equipment used to separate inhomogeneous mixture of two liquids which are
immiscible and of different density, so the liquid of higher density lies at the bottom.
Light liquid
(smaller r)
light liquid

Feed Feed

Heavy liquid
Heavy liquid
“ grater density”

Vertical settler Horizontal settler

13
Cyclone
Equipment used to separate small particles in gas.

gas
( gas + solids )

solids

14