Chemical Engineering

Process Design
CHE513

By
Dr. Ayoola A.A.
Dr. Alagbe E.E.
Covenant University
Recommended Texts

1. Chemical Engineering Design; Volume 6, 4th Edition by

Ray Sinnott

2. Chemical Engineering Design: Principles, Practice and

Economics of Plant and Process Design, 2nd Edition by
Gavin Towler and Ray Sinnott

3. Any other useful textbook

What is Design?
• Is the art, plan, template or process of deciding how something
will look like or work

• Is a drawing or plan from which something may be made

• Is a creative activity with the intention of making/producing

something real

• Is the synthesis and the putting together of ideas to achieve a

desired purpose
What is Engineering Design?

• Is a methodical series of steps that engineers use in creating

functional products and processes.

• Is a work process which has a user perspective and drives

development based on specific customer’s needs.
Chemical Engineering Design
• It is the choice and sequencing of unit operations for desired physical
and/or chemical transformation of materials, by considering the basic
chemical engineering principles as well as the best economic and
environmental benefits.

• It entails the creation of plans and specifications, as well as the

prediction of the financial implications of embarking on such plans
Why Do We Design?

• To meet customer’s needs

• To establish the optimal way doing things
• To allow reproducibility
• To give room for improvement
• To safe cost
• To prevent errors/mistake
Nature of Design
A good design begins with the OBJECTIVES SPECIFICATIONS
(CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS). This is then followed by the DEVELOPMENT and
EVALUATION of the design, so as to achieve the set objectives or needs.

The choice (selection) of a plausible design by designer(s) is a function

of certain factors or constraints, some of which may be internal or
external.

Some factors may be fixed, while some may be flexible (under the
control of the designer)
 Nature of Design
The main design constraints are listed in the Figure below
 Nature of Design
Design developmental stages are
1) Establishment of the design Objective (the need)
The designer must have clear understanding of the customer’s need at the onset

2) Setting of the design basis

It is important that designer should be able to generate correct design basis
from the customer’s need.
Setting the basis includes
• Production rate and purity specifications of the products
• The system of units to be used
• The national, local or company design codes that must be used
• Details of raw materials that are available
 Nature of Design
3) Generation of Possible Design Concepts
This entails an attempt to proffer solution to the problem (need) through modifications (and
additions to) the existing methods (approaches). That is, the critical appraisal of new or existing
approaches

4) Fitness Testing
The design engineer must assemble all of the information needed to model the process so as to
predict its performance against the identified objectives. This entails information on possible
processes, equipment performance and physical property data

5) Economic Evaluation, Optimisation and Selection

6) Detailed Design and Equipment Selection
7) Procurement, Construction and Operation
 Nature of Design
The design process is as structured below
 Organisation of Chemical Engineering
Project
The organisation of Chemical Engineering project can be broadly divided into two
broad phases:
 Project Documentation
Project Documentation will include
 Project Documentation
Project Documentation will include
 Codes and Standards
CODE and STANDARD are use interchangeably. CODE refers to code of practice
(which covers recommended design or operating procedures), while STANDARD is
for the preferred size and composition.

For Example: ASTM D93 Ash content of (0.008 – 0.010) % means a CODE of ASTM
D93 operating procedure with a standard value of (0.008 – 0.010) % ash content.

In Engineering practice, Codes and Standards cover:

 Flow-sheeting
• The flowsheet is the key document in process design.
• It shows the arrangement of the equipment selected to carry out the process;
the stream connections, stream flow-rates, stream compositions and the
operating conditions.
• It is a diagrammatic model of the process (arrangement of equipment selected
to carry out a process).
• This will include piping, equipment design and plant layout.
• The flow-sheet will be used by the specialist design groups as the basis for
their designs.
• It will also be used by operating personnel for the preparation of operating
manuals and operator training.
 Flow-sheeting

• The flow-sheet is drawn up from material balances made over the complete
process and each individual unit. Energy balances are also made to determine
the energy flows and the service requirements.

• During plant start-up and subsequent operation, the flow-sheet forms a basis
for comparison of operating performance with design.

• Chemical Engineers use this tools as a primary means of transmitting and

recording process information
 Flow-sheeting
• It is facilitated by computer-aided flow-sheeting programs.
 Flow-sheeting
Process flow-sheet is the definitive document on the process. Hence, the
presentation must be clear, comprehensive, accurate and complete. The various
types of flow-sheets are discussed below.
i. Block Diagrams
• A block diagram is the simplest form of presentation. Each block can
represent a single piece of equipment or a complete stage in the process.
• They are useful for showing simple processes. With complex processes, their
use is limited to showing the overall process.
• The blocks can be of any shape, but it is usually convenient to use a mixture
of squares and circles.
 Flow-sheeting
ii. Pictorial Representation (Process Flow Diagram, PFD)
• On the detailed flow-sheets used for design and operation, the equipment is
normally drawn in a pictorial form.
• The
 Flow-sheeting
ii. Pictorial Representation (Process Flow Diagram, PFD)
 Flow-sheeting
ii. Pictorial Representation
(Process Flow Diagram, PFD)

Essential Information to be Included

1. Product equipment, including feed and product storage
2. Stream composition, either:
(i) the flow-rate of each individual component, kg/h, which is preferred, or
(ii) the stream composition as a weight fraction.
3. Total stream flow-rate, kg/h.
4. Stream temperature, degrees Celsius preferred.
5. Nominal operating pressure (the required operating pressure).