PROCESS ENGINEERING A
Introduction to Process Engineering
This chapter serves to introduce the course.
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© School of Engineering and Physical Science, Aug 2018
M S c Programmes in Chemical Engineering
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PROCESS ENGINEERING A
CONTENTS
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5
1.1. What is Process Engineering ............................................................................. 5
1.2. Starting Points ................................................................................................... 6
1.3. The Material and Energy Balance ...................................................................... 6
1.4. Unit Operations.................................................................................................. 7
1.4.1. Major Units .................................................................................................. 7
1.4.2. Minor/Ancillary Units .................................................................................... 8
2. Material Balances............................................................................................... 8
3. Fluid Mechanics ................................................................................................. 9
4. Heat Transfer ...................................................................................................... 9
5. Separation Processes........................................................................................ 9
6. Safety .................................................................................................................. 9
7. Sustainability ................................................................................................... 10
7. Economics........................................................................................................ 10
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© School of Engineering and Physical Science, Aug 2018
M S c Programmes in Chemical Engineering
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PROCESS ENGINEERING A
1. Introduction
The objective of this set of course notes is to introduce the basic principles of process
engineering; namely:
Material and Energy balances
Thermodynamics
Fluid Mechanics
Heat Transfer
Process Control
Safety and Sustainability
Economic Appraisal
1.1. What is Process Engineering
Process Engineering is the discipline concerned with the development, maintenance
and expansion of systems that converts material from one form into another that
separates out material into some product. In the process, we add value to the final
product. Materials that process engineers deal with can be gases, liquids and solids
and usually mixtures of different chemical compounds. Processes that we are
interested in fall into two categories:
Physical – where a change in the physical conditions (temperature, pressure)
can lead to a separation of amalgamation of individual chemical species.
Chemical – where we instigate a chemical reaction that converts a number of
chemical species into a mixture of others.
Different industries often use one or the other processes; the oil and gas sector us
largely physical processes to separate gas, oil from water, sand. Pharmaceutical
sector are built on chemical reactions combined with separation stages. Occasionally
engineers will focus on one type of industry although within each there are
commonalities which form the basis of study in process engineering. The
underpinning science and engineering necessary to develop, control and make a
process economically viable include:
Thermodynamics of systems which have multiple components
Fluid mechanics for the transport of gases, liquids and mixtures when required.
Heat Transfer to add or remove heat from one source to another and the
impact on the physical state of materials.
Mass transfer which relates to how single or a few chemical species will
migrate from one location to another either by design or by chemical nature.
Control of our processes to keep the system with designed limits and to
automatically correct for upsets.
Safety which concerns making sure that our processes are safe to operate, will
safely operate and shut down if needs be.
Sustainability which is commonly associated with protecting the environment
and minimising impacts of our processes, but is also concerned with securing
routes for our processes.
Economic appraisal which is ultimately the deciding factor in any engineering
project. What makes chemical and process engineering projects challenging is
the impact in terms of size, cost and impact.
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© School of Engineering and Physical Science, Aug 2018
M S c Programmes in Chemical Engineering
This course will discuss various aspects of each section listed above. One of the key
aspects of process engineering is putting into practice these core elements. Certainly
in undergraduate courses, process engineers spend considerable time on project
work both on an individual and group basis. Hopefully this opportunity will arise for
you.
1.2. Starting Points
Before turning to individual topics it is worth highlighting what is meant by processing
on our context and what the raw material will be and what the final product will be. In a
general sense, process engineering takes in material or several materials, uses
energy and utilities to heat, cool, change pressure much like any manufacturing
process. Within the process we need stability, we need monitoring and control. Above
all we need to ensure the process is safe and the operation as a whole is sustainable;
environmentally, economically and ethically.
Energy Low Grade Energy
Raw Material 1 Main Product
PROCESS
Co-Product
Raw Material 2
Utilities Air/Water Effluent
Figure 1: The “Chemical” Process Concept
The difference between our definition of process engineering and that used by the
mechanical or manufacturing engineer is that we are dealing with chemicals that
behave differently at different conditions of temperature and pressure.
1.3. The Material and Energy Balance
Figure 1 will have illustrated that what we put into the process in terms of material
“mass” and the energy, we will get back out of the process. The “material” or “mass
balance” as its known is therefore fundamental to our understanding of the process,
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PROCESS ENGINEERING A
not only to account for what we start with and have at the end, but also the size of
equipment we need.
Equally, and arguably the more difficult to account for is the energy balance and more
challenging if we are working in the nuclear sector. Changes in chemical make up of
molecules if we have chemical reactions, differences is states (gas, liquid or solid),
interaction between different molecular structures serve to increase the complexity of
establishing an energy balance. So it is no wonder that we use estimations, models
that describe the chemical systems to 90% accuracy. We use correlations; we make
assumptions on how our materials behave.
What is important is that we understand the limitations we impose through applying
one model over another. Sensitivity to the underlying assumptions on what we are
trying to develop is something that is often forgotten by many process engineers.
1.4. Unit Operations
One of the significant developments in process engineering was the concept of the
“unit operation” as a means to understand chemical processes. To put it simply, a unit
operation is a single item of equipment; a vessel, a pump, a distillation column. These
are all units that have a single purpose and we usually approach teaching process
engineering by going through these units applying theory of fluids, heat transfer,
thermodynamics etc. The concept of a single unit operation has been so successful
that nearly all the computer-based systems we use to help us develop processes, are
based on establishing a series of connected unit operations.
1.4.1. Major Units
Major unit operations are those which are the larger items of equipment found in many
process plants. Some are used more than others, some are larger than others but
they all have different underlying theories for determining the size. The complexity of
these operations make them difficult to operate and are units which are expensive.
Gravity Based Gas/Liquid A fundamental unit which allows
Separators a mixture to separate out into
Liquid/Liquid different layers.
Solid/Gas
Entrapment Solid/Liquid A fabric or metal plate which
Separators allows the carrying fluid – liquid
Soild/Gas or gas to pass through, but
retains the solid on one side.
Driers Indirect heat Continuous rotary dryers, batch
Direct heat tray driers which remove
moisture (water or other solvent
from solids) to produce a dry
powder.
Phase Separation Distillation These units are the more
Absorption challenging to analyse and
Adsorption involve simultaneous transfer of
Membrane heat and mass. Distillation is
separation by boiling point,
absorption is a transfer by
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© School of Engineering and Physical Science, Aug 2018
M S c Programmes in Chemical Engineering
concentration. Adsorption is
attachment to a solid.
Heat Transfer Evaporators Units which heat is
Condensers added/removed to cause a
Boilers partial change of phase.
Sometimes used to produce a
concentrated liquid slurry from a
dilute mixture.
1.4.2. Minor/Ancillary Units
These are often thought of as ancillary units supporting major unit operations. The
operating principles may be simple and the control systems may be well known but
these units are essential part of keeping a process in operation. On a flow diagram
they are small items, but can be analysed as a unit operation.
Pumps Positive Provide methods to increase the
displacement pressure of liquids (pumps) and
Rotary gases (compressors). An
Compressor Single/multistage increase in temperature often
accompanies the increase in
pressure.
Heat Exchanger Shell & Tube Changes the temperature of
Plate liquids and gases
Fin
Tanks Storage and buffer Provide hold up time –
tanks residence time or simple
storage.
Valves Control valves Valves increase (close) or
Gate decrease (by opening) the
Butterfly pressure drop along liquid and
Ball gas lines. This then reduces or
increases the volumetric
Shut off valves flowrate of liquids and gases.
Safety Valves Relief valves These vent systems under
Bursting Disks pressure to prevent a dangerous
explosive rupture occurring.
2. Material Balances
The concept of material balances was introduced earlier. Chapter 2 of the course
deals with the techniques used to solve problems relating to material balances. In the
initial stages of developing chemical and physical processes, the material balance is a
one of the major tools used by process engineers to depict what the process is
intended to do. When the process plant is running, a material balance is used to
monitor what the process units do and how efficient they are. Due to the lack of
adequate instrumentation, material balances on operating processes are often
blighted by unknown quantities and one of the process engineer’s skills to investigate
what these gaps may be.
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3. Fluid Mechanics
Understanding how gases and liquids flow across surfaces, through pipelines and how
mixtures are created and separated is at the very core of what processing operations
do. Chapter 3 looks at the fundamentals of fluid behaviour for single phase (gas or
liquids) and expands into a short introduction to the flow of two phases (gas and
liquids). The physics behind the flow of material can be very complex described by a
number of mathematical expressions that are very challenging to solve. Often
forgotten in processing operations is the presence of a 3rd phase, the presence of
solids in processing lines; sand in oil and gas production units, grains in the brewing
and food processing industry. Chapter 3 does not intend to look at the mathematics in
depth of single phase fluid flow but provide a sufficient understanding of the core
aspects as it affects the processing of gases and liquids. It will introduce some of the
aspects of two phase gas and liquid flow, again to provide the minimum level of
understanding of these flows.
4. Heat Transfer
A common operation that is used in all processing operations is heating and cooling
e.g. oil and gas from a reservoir usually needs cooling, gas often needs condensing,
refrigerants need to change phase vapour to liquid to vapour. All these operations
require heat to be exchanged. In terms of overall energy costs and by implication, the
carbon footprint of any process is governed largely by the amount of energy spent in
heating and cooling that cannot be effectively recovered. Chapter 4 will introduce the
core elements necessary to understand the principles behind heat transfer and look at
some of the equipment used in processing facilities. As with fluid mechanics, the
theory of heat conduction, convection can be described mathematically in some detail
but the solutions to the governing equations are complex. Chapter 4 does not intent to
cover all heat transfer but give the fundamentals.
5. Separation Processes
When visiting a chemical or related processing facility, apart from the miles of
pipework, the striking features are usually tall columns and storage tanks. Columns
are usually separation systems, distillation being the more dominant one where
separation occurs by differences in volatility. Absorption is the next major separation
tool that finds uses across the chemical and process sectors from removing CO 2 from
LNG, oxygen from seawater for EOR injection, SO2 from flue gases from power
plants, to removing trace organics from waste water. Chapter 7 looks in some detail
into distillation, absorption, adsorption and a cursory overview of other separation
techniques.
6. Safety & Sustainability
Safety, environment and economics are three topics, which are an integral part of any
engineering project. We should be designing and planning to make sure the operation
is safe, we need to make sure that normal and abnormal operations do no harm to the
environment. We also have to make sure that we are doing all of these under the best
economics as possible. Making sure we can control operational costs in an industry
that has seen major fluctuations in economics is very challenging. Chapter 6 presents
some of the key topics in safety.
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© School of Engineering and Physical Science, Aug 2018
M S c Programmes in Chemical Engineering
7. Sustainability
Sustainability of the business operation extends not only to financial sustainability but
also to the ecological and societal sustainability.
8. Economics
All engineers need to be aware of the economics of what they decide to do. It would
be nice to have complete freedom in reaching technical solutions to solve problems;
using the most un-reactive metals possible, operating at any pressure and
temperature combination we like, running processes in the absence of gravity. All are
feasible but are they practical and how do we decide which option to take? Some
would argue that you have to go for the best technological solution – but if that is
beyond the financial resources available, then it isn’t going to be feasible. Knowing
how to account for financial aspects of a project is just as important as knowing the
technical aspects. Chapter 8 presents an overview of key economics that process
engineers need to know about.
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