Chemical Engineering Process Design
PROCESS SYNTHESIS
Keith Marchildon
David Mody
Process synthesis has been defined as
the science of arriving in a systematic
manner at a flowsheet which is optimized
with respect to some objective function.
What objective function?
Any constraints?
Is a systematic manner possible?
Process synthesis is more akin to the work of
an artist who, while drawing on common principles
of technique and using tools that are available to all,
uses his or her experience and inner imagination
to create an original work.
Combining
Capital Cost
Operating Cost
-------
with
** Depreciation **
Raw materials
Energy and other services
Human resources
Maintenance
Waste disposal
Typical Optimization Choices
Adding equipment (capital cost) to capture process heat
and reduce energy consumption (operating cost)
Using energy to power purification columns that increase
yield from raw materials i.e., increasing one operating
cost to reduce another
Automating to reduce the number of operating personnel
Increasing vessel size and hold-up time to allow a decrease
in reactor temperature that lessens waste production.
Ways to Keep the Plant Operating
(out of 8766 days per year)
adequate process monitoring and sampling,
for early detection and diagnosis of problems
storage capacity for raw materials, product, and
intermediate streams, in order to buy time and keep
the plant operating if there is a difficulty at one point
redundancy of ancillary equipment such as pumps
ability to handle a range of throughputs, below and
above the flowsheet values.
Externally Set Parameters
production rate
product quality
unit cost for raw materials and for services
raw material characteristics
environmental regulations.
Raw materials
Human
resources
Energy and
other services
Maintenance
Capital
Facility
Product
Up-time
Useful
co-products
Depreciation
Physical loss of
reactant,
product,
intermediates
Chemical loss of
non-useful products
Disposal
Figure 3.1 Cash-Carrying Streams in a Chemical Process
2007 June 2
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PROCESS DESIGN
Preface
Introduction
Part I Principles of Chemical Process Design
1. The Process Design Mandate
2. Documentation and Communication
3. Synthesis
4. Theory and Experiment in Support of Design
5. Operating Problems: Solution by Design
6. Process Monitoring and Control
7. Designing for Health and Safety
8. Environmental Protection; Conservation
9. Project Economics
10. Estimation of Capital and Operating Costs
Part II Operations and Equipment
11. Bulk Transport and Storage
12. In-Plant Transfer of Solids and Liquids
13. Transfer of gases; Compression and Vacuum
14. Formation and Processing of Solids
15. Heating, Cooling and Change of Phase
16. Mixing and Agitation
17. Mechanical Separations
18. Molecular Separations
19. Chemical Reaction
20. Integrated Reaction and Separation
Appendices
A Estimation of Chemical and Physical Properties
B Mathematical Support and Methods
C Materials of Construction
D Services and Utilities
E Equipment Drives
F Six Sigma and ISO
G Project Management
H Process Simplification and Value Engineering
I Patents
J Plant Location and Lay-Out
The Rate Concept
Rate = Rate Coefficient x
zone of action x
driving force
For convective heat transfer this becomes
Rate of heat transfer =
Heat transfer coefficient x
area normal to the flow of heat x
temperature difference
Two key characteristics:
if any one of the three terms on the right side is
increased, the whole rate is increased proportionately,
if any one of the three terms goes to zero,
the rate goes to zero.
Look for the Controlling Rate
Ambient
gas
Temperature
2
1
Pellet
center
Figure 3.2 Pellet Heating
Look for the Controlling Rate
C
RATE OF
REACTION
2
RATE OF
MASS
TRANSFER
[C]
[C] vle
Figure 3.3 - Reaction and Mass Transfer in a Bubbling Reactor
ACHIEVING DRIVING FORCE:
SOME PATTERNS IN
SINGLE-STREAM PROCESSES
Batch and continuous
Plug and back-mixed
Multi-stage back-mixed, the stages being
similar or stages being dissimilar
Separation and recycle.
Some Advantages of Batch Processing
It is generally simpler, with less vessels or at least
less vessel types
Process development tends to be done by changing
operating conditions rather than the design of vessels
There is relatively easy transition between
successive product types
Incremental expansion can be low-cost:
just add duplicate vessels
Batch Processing Today
Modern-day systems of distributed control
incorporate recipe handling and automated
addition of raw materials and additives,
which relieve many operator functions
Advanced control schemes, particularly
model-based control, can track batches and
keep them all to an identical process path
and/or detect any that stray and require segregation.
Batch-Continuous Hybrids
A continuous processes that has batch operation
somewhere along its length, usually for raw
material introduction or for product handling
A batch process that has a continuous feed of
some component during all or part of its course.
(a fed-batch process)
Three Continuous Styles
For single-component first-order reaction
Rate of consumption of reactant C =
k x liquid mass x [C]
In general
Extent = ( [C] no reaction - [C] ) / [C]
no reaction
Comparisons
Required hold-up time falls off greatly as final extent
of reaction drops
All configurations behave about the same at extents
up to 0.5
At high (0.99) extent, the single well-mixed reactor
requires very large hold-up time
A sequence of well-mixed stages is much more
efficient than one stage and, with enough stages,
can even approach the performance of plug-flow.
Figure 3.5 Some Multi Well-Mixed-Stage Configurations
A Vari-Stage Process
Wt%water
96
20
83
6
Moving Fourdrinier wire
Press felts
Figure 3.6 Paper Making
Heated roll dryers
Separation plus Recycle
Situations favoring Separation + recycle
The process must be taken to a high final extent of
reaction, either for reasons of product purity or
because of high cost of the raw material
There is a significant reverse reaction which slows
the process and limits the achievable extent
The product is susceptible to a further undesired
reaction if it remains at reactor conditions
The product has a poisoning effect on a catalyst.
A Physical example of Sepn + Recycle
ACHIEVING DRIVING FORCE:
SOME PATTERNS IN
TWO-STREAM PROCESSES
Batch and continuous
Plug and back-mixed
Multi-stage back-mixed
Co-current, cross-current, and counter-current
A Two-Stream Process
H
Figure 3.9 Two-Liquid Heat Exchange
G,
L,
G, A
Absorption
G, A
L, A
Stripping
L, A
G,
L,
L1, A
L1, A
Extraction
L2, A
L2, A
Pneumatic Conveying
Figure 3.10 Other Two-Stream Operations
Counter - Current
Co-Current
Cross-Current
Figure 3.11 Hot-Air Drying of Solids
250
Counter-Current operation
200
Hot Air
150
100
Solids
50
0
0
10
15
20
25
250
Co-Current Operation
200
Hot Air
150
100
Solids
50
0
0
250
10
15
20
25
Cross-Current Operation
200
Hot Air in
150
Hot Air out
100
Solids
50
0
0
10
15
20
25
A Batch Two-Stream Process
Clean
Solvent
26
25
24
To Waste
Figure 3.13 Single-Flush Batch Cleaning
Batch Cross-Current Analogue
Clean
Solvent
26
25
To Waste
To Waste
Clean
Solvent
28
27
To Waste
To Waste
Figure 3.14 Cross-Current Flushing
Batch Counter-Current Analogue
C
26
Clean
solvent
C
RINSE
25
To
waste
C
C
C
26
DRAIN
25
Re-FILL
27
O
O
O
28
C
Figure 3.15 Counter-Current Flushing
(D is the amount of fouled material)
50 kg liq, 0.0D
1.0D
26
27
5 kg liq, 0.01D
45kg liq,
0.99D
50 kg liq, 0.1D
Figure 3.16 Material Balance for Counter-Current Flushing
108 C
20 C
Counter-Current
20 C
200 C
Co-Current
200 C
20 C
Plug-Mixed
200 C
20 C
Mixed-Mixed
152 C
200 C
122 C
128 C
109 C
138 C
102 C
143 C
Figure 3. Efficacy of Various Two-Stream Configurations