CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 PROCESS FLOWSHEET

The process flowsheet is the most important document in the design of the gold recovery
plant. The configuration of the equipment chosen to carry out the process, the stream connection,
the flow rates and composition of the stream, and the operating circumstances are all shown or
accounted for. The process is modeled using diagrams. The flowchart demonstrates where
utilities are required. It covers all pumps, agitators, air filters, mixers, separators, crucibles,
crushers, reactors, storage tanks, furnaces, etc.

The flowsheet's items are color-coded by letter and number so that the equipment can be
linked to a particular item in the legend. The flowsheet enables the engineer in charge to see
what is happening and to follow incoming material as it moves from the time it enters the plant
area through storage, size reduction, purification, reaction, separation, and packing until it finally
exits as a finished product. All utility streams sent to large equipment, such as cooling water,
low-pressure steam, and high-pressure steam, are also displayed. For the process, a flow
summary table must be created in addition to the primary equipment included in the process
flowsheet. The following are only a few of the key details listed in the flow summary table:

 Stream Number
 Temperature
 Pressure (atm)
 Vapor Fraction
 Total Mass Flow rate (kg/h)
 Total Mole Flow rate (kmol/h)
 Individual Component Flow rate (kmol/h)

This data necessitates an estimation of the rate at which each component flows through each
stream of the process, which must be calculated by meticulous material balance calculations on
both the individual unit operations and the total process. Energy balance calculations about such
equipment are also used to offer data on the energy consumption of energy-utilizing equipment
like heat exchangers. Component mass and ole fractions, volumetric flowrates (m 3/h), physical
property data (such as density and viscosity), thermodynamic data (such as heat capacity and k-
values), and stream name are examples of additional optional information that may be present.