Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Excerpt From
Chapter 16:
UTILITIES SYSTEM DESIGN

16.2.2 Liquid Fuel

16.2.2.1 Introduction

Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as

a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid
petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the
generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of
power. In this sense, heavy fuel oil (HFO) or diesel are types of fuel
oil. Fuel oil is made of long hydrocarbon chains, particularly
alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. The term fuel oil is also used
in a stricter sense to refer only to the heaviest commercial fuel that
can be obtained from crude oil, heavier than gasoline and naphtha.

Fuel oil systems are provided to ensure a constant regulated supply

of oil to burners of steam boilers and process furnaces. The system
includes a fuel oil pump and heater set which discharges oil at a
constant pressure and at the required condition of temperature
and viscosity so that atomisation and efficient combustion are
possible.

Dependent on the grade of Fuel oil and process demand, the source
may be from process make within the complex, subsidized by
import to meet the total complex demand or imported via road, rail
or marine off-loading facilities.
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Where gas is available for fuel and there is a preference for it, Fuel
oil make may be exported via road, rail or marine off-loading
facilities.

A typical analysis of a fuel oil or waste liquid contains the following

information:

1. Ultimate analysis: The results indicate the quantities of

sulfur, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and ash.
2. API gravity
3. Heating value
4. Viscosity
5. Pour point: The pour point is the lowest temperature at which
a liquid fuel flows under standardized conditions.
6. Flash point: The flash point is the temperature to which a
liquid must be heated to produce vapours that flash but do
not burn continuously when ignited.
7. Water and sediment: The water and sediment level, also called
bottom sediment and water (BSW), is a measure of the
contaminants in a liquid fuel. The sediment normally consists
of calcium, sodium, magnesium and iron compounds. For
heavy fuels, the sediment may also contain carbon.

Additional information, which is often required when designing a

boiler, includes:

1. Carbon residue,
2. Asphaltenes,
3. Elemental ash analysis,
4. Burning profile, and
5. Distillation curve.
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Refer table 16.2.3 below for fuel oil analysis for commercial grades.

Table 16.2.3: Analysis of commercial fuel oil grades

 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Table 16.2.4: Typical characteristics of various liquid fuel types

 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Table 16.2.5: Comparison of properties of fuel oil amongst various

countries
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Pages 24 to 25

16.3 Compressed Air system

16.3.1 Introduction

Compressed air is supplied on industrial sites for two main

purposes, as Instrument Air for control systems and Plant Air for
general use.

Instrument Air systems provide a constant flow of dry compressed

air at the pertinent conditions to maintain the following services:

Instrumentation (control valves, positioners, shut down valves)

Process Air

Plant Air is supplied for the following services:

Service Air (utility stations)

Motive Air (to run air motor driven equipment e.g. air operated
double diaphragm pumps (AODD))

Maintenance facilities (purging equipment containing chemical

vapour/inert gas to allow man entry)

Cleaning air (soot blowers, workshops)

16.3.1.1 Determination of System Capacity

(i) Capacity of Instrument Air System

The capacity of the system is to be based upon the total

requirements of all connected loads, assuming all instruments
operate simultaneously at maximum air consumption. The
capacity of the Instrument Air system cannot be accurately
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

assessed until the process control diagrams are complete and a

provisional count of the instrumentation is possible.

When accurate manufacturer’s data is not available, the following

assumptions are acceptable in calculating the Instrument Air
requirements, based on all instrument operating simultaneously:

Users Instrument Air Rate

per single (1) Device

[Nm3/h] [scfm
]

Old type control valve with fully pneumatic system (includes leakage 2.98 1.75
rate of app. 0.3 Nm3/h)

Modern type control valve, electronically controlled with only the 1.50 0.88
actuator using Instrument Air (includes leakage rate of app. 0.3
Nm3/h)

On-Off Isolation Valve (includes leakage rate of app. 0.3 Nm 3/h) – 5.53 3.25
only fraction of on-off valves needs to be considered operating
simultaneously for normal consumption, say 10%

Analyzer (oxygen, chromatograph) 8.50 5

Analyzer (moisture, pH, conductivity, water, emission) 3.40 2

Louvers / Dampers 8.50 5

Miscellaneous (compressor pulse jet, on-line / off-line washing, dry As required As

gas seal panel, anti surge valve etc.) requi
red

Margin to be added %

Margin for air dryer regeneration losses during operation (this + 10% to 25%
depends on vendor design for air dryers)

Margin to avoid overloading the compressor + 15% to 20%

Margin for leakage in the system (optional- see note 1) + 10%

 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Note 1: In case GI pipes are used for instrument air as is usual

practice, then connectors are union joints since GI pipes cannot be
welded. Here, this margin is appropriate. However, if instrument air
piping is SS 304 with flanges, then this margin can be ignored)

Table 16.3.1: Recommended Typical Instrument Air Requirements

(ii) Capacity of Plant Air System

Plant Air demand is difficult to predict as invariably plant

modification and new constructions services are to be considered in
addition to normal plant operations: Service Air, Furnace Decoking
and maintenance workshop demands. The largest demand for
Plant Air in a production plant is for furnace steam / air decoking
(normally 2,500 NM3/hr), which may vary considerably with the
type of plant size and number of furnaces.

User Plant Air Rate [Nm3/h]

Production Plant As required in consultationwith

licensor / vendors

Plant Service Air (one utility stations at 85 Nm 3/h each) 85

Maintenance workshop 100 maximum

Table 16.3.2 Typical Plant Air Requirements

Note that, sometimes, decoke air has its own compressor and in
such cases the consumption would not be considered part of Plant
Air.
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Table 16.3.3 shows demands and operating conditions for

pneumatic tools and construction equipment. Note that these are
peak values and that average loads are often 10-35% of the peak
values quoted.

Tool Weight [kg] Air Rate Work.

[lts/min] Pres.
[barg]

Clay diggers 11 800 4.9

Clay diggers 14 600 to 680 4.9

Clay diggers 15.5 680 4.9

Clay diggers 18 1600 4.9

Concrete tampers 18 1100 4.9

Riveting Hammer Light 1.6 to 1.8 200 to 250 4.9

Riveting Hammer Heavy 7.2 to 11.4 88 to 900 4.9

Drilling Machines (1/8”-3/4”) 0.75 to 3.9 400 to 800 4.9 to

5.9

Drilling Machines (7/8”-1 1/4”) 6.3 to 14 1000 to 1600 4.9 to

5.9

Drilling Machines (2”) 22 2500 4.9 to

5.9

Hand Grinder (5/16” dia.) 0.5 to 1.0 400 to 650 4.9

Hand Grinder (4”x2”-6”x1 1/4″) 4.8 to 5.1 1000 4.9

Hand Grinder (8”x1 1/2″) 7.5 1500 4.9

Grinders with Flexible Pad (8”-10” dia.) 5.5 1900 4.9

Table 16.3.3: Approximate peak Demands for Pneumatic Tools

Pages 27 to 30
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Dryers

The most common measurement of compressed air water content is

dew point. Dew point is the temperature where air is saturated
with water and moisture will begin to condense. In other words,
it’s the point where dew begins to form. Dew point is always stated
as a temperature. Simply put, dew point is the temperature where
condensation begins.

In compressed air applications, pressure is critical when discussing

dew point. Compression and expansion of air affects its dew
point. Generally speaking, compression increases dew point, and
expansion (i.e. de-compression) lowers dew point.

For this reason, the phrase “pressure dew point (PDP)” is commonly
used. This term usually refers to the dew point of the compressed
air at full line pressure. Conversely the phrase “atmospheric dew
point” refers to what the dew point would be if fully depressurized
to atmospheric conditions.

Fig 16.3.1 provides conversion chart of pressure to atmospheric

dew point for compressed air at various pressures. To obtain the
dew point temperature expected if the gas were expanded to a lower
pressure proceed as follows:

1. Using “dew point at pressure” locate this temperature on scale

at right hand side of chart.
2. Read horizontally to intersection of curve corresponding to the
operating pressure at which the gas was dried.

• From that point read vertically downward to curve

corresponding to the expanded lower pressure.
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

1. From that point read horizontally to scale on right hand side

of chart to obtain dew point temperature at the expanded
lower pressure.
2. If dew point temperatures of atmospheric pressure are
desired, after step (ii) above, read vertically downward to scale
at bottom of chart, which will provide “Dew Point at
Atmospheric Pressure”.

Fig 16.3.1: Pressure dewpoint versus atmospheric dewpoint

conversion
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Two 100% air dryer packages are normally installed (duty and
stand by).

Dryer types and details of each are provided below:

Compressed Air Dryers are mainly used in industries for various

applications in pneumatic tools, pneumatic instruments and
pneumatic machines and in a variety of production processes. The
consequences of using wet air are rust and scale deposits in steel
pipes, increased resistance in flow, malfunctioning of process
control instruments, corrosion and damage to electromagnetic
valves and pneumatic system, peeling and blistering effect on spray
painted surface, etc. Thus it will affect the quality of product and
lead to excessive maintenance cost.

The sketch below shows a typical Compressed air system to remove

these damaging impurities and get Clean and Dry air. When
compressed to 7 Kg/cm2g, the temperature of discharge air reaches
around 140oC. The after cooler and Separator installed after the
compressor will cool the air, and remove @90% of moisture and oil.
For instance, when the compressor takes in 100 NM3/h of ambient
air at 40oC and 50% relative humidity, at 7 Kg/cm2g, the after
cooler will condense an average of 30 liters of water in 24 hours. If
the outlet air temperature from the after cooler is 40 oC, it still
contains 8000 ppm moisture. At 45oC, compressed air contains
10,500 ppm, at 50oC, 13,500 ppm moisture which is removed by
Air Dryer. Therefore, lower the temperature of air at dryer inlet,
smaller would be the size of Air Drying Unit.

Dryer types are as below:

1. Internally Heat Reactivated Type Air Dryers

2. Blower Reactivated Type Air Dryer
3. Heatless Type Air Dryers
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

4. Heat of Compression Type Air Dryers

5. Refrigerated Type Air Dryers
6. No Purge Loss Type Air Dryers

Pages 216 to 217

16.5.9 Specification of Boilers

(i) Preferred Arrangement

Required total capacity should be provided by use of at least 3

boilers, but all boilers should be considered to be operating at
partial load to supply normal steam requirements. The above is
recommended for redundancy purposes only.

All boilers should preferably be considered to be water tube type

except small package units of low pressure which may be of fire
tube construction.

Boilers should be of the outdoor installation type except that semi

outdoor type should be used in cold climates.

Package boilers should be preferred in standard sizes and pressure

ranges where commonly available.

Boilers should usually be equipped with automatic fuel burners,

forced or induced draft fans, flue gas ducts, soot blowers, platforms
and ladders, and other related auxiliaries and accessories, as
neccessary. Controls and instruments are usually supplied to a
certain degree with the boiler.
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

(ii) Boilers

The boiler specification should cover all aspects of the expected

operating cycle of the boiler. It is important that any special
operating aspects such as daily start-up or rapid load swings are
covered in the specification of the boiler, which should include the
following:

• Analysis of the fuels to be used

• Duty required (maximum and minimum flows, pressure and
temperatures and allowable variation)
• Water analysis and expected ranges and feed water
temperature
• Layout constraints and access problems
• Any unusual site features such as earthquake or wind
problems
• Applicable emissions regulations
• Codes and standards required for the country, plus site safety
rules
• Delivery and commissioning requirements
• Auxiliary equipment required and types of drive
• Control system and data management needs
• Guarantees and warranties
• Any essential bid comparison basis such as utility values,
capital charges, etc.

(a) Boiler Specifications and a few important terminologies:

Boilers are always typically specified by the following Industrial

Boiler Specification Factors.

(Note: At the end of this section are provided guidelines for process
engineer to prepare specifications and evaluate vendor bids. Vol II
Chapter 30 also provides technical bid evaluation for boilers).

1. Steam pressure
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

2.Steam temperature and control range

3.Steam flow: Peak, Minimum, Load patterns
4.Feed water temperature and quality
5.Standby capacity and number of units
6.Fuels and their properties
7.Ash properties
8.Firing method preferences
9.Environmental emission limitations: sulfur dioxide (SO 2),
nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate, other compounds
10. Site space and access limitations
11. Auxiliaries
12. Operator requirements
13. Evaluation basis

Out of these, the usual four most important attributes are:

1. Steam flow or evaporation

2. Steam outlet pressure (SOP)
3. Steam outlet temperature (SOT)
4. Feed water (FW) inlet temperature

(b) Steam Flow or Evaporation or Boiler Output

This is the amount of steam generated from the FW supplied at a

certain temperature. It is the capacity or the rating of the boiler
expressed in pounds per hour (lb/h), kilograms per hour (kg/h), or
kilograms per second (kg/s). In a re-heater (RH) boiler, heat is
added to steam to raise its temperature from inlet to outlet
condition. This also forms a part of evaporation. As the feed
temperature varies a good deal and reheating is invariably present
in utility boilers, boiler ratings are better designated by the heat
duty than evaporation. This is expressed in million British thermal
units per hour (MMBtu/h), million kilocalories per hour
(MMkcal/h), or megawatt thermals (MWth).
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

(c) Maximum Continuous Rating

Maximum continuous rating (MCR) is the ability of the boiler to

generate and supply the declared amount of steam continuously
and effortlessly without any kind of shortfall or side effects (such as
overheating or slagging or overloading) on the main boiler or
auxiliaries.

(d) Peak Rating

Peak rating is the evaporation that can be sustained by the boiler

for a specified period of, for example, 2 or 4 h in a day, to meet an
increased need in either the process or the power plant. The
concept of peak rating does not apply to HRSGs.

Peak duty is always met at a fractionally reduced efficiency, as the

final exit temperature of the gas from the unit would be more than
that at an MCR condition (as the fuel flow is higher), leading to
higher stack losses.

Usually, the peak duty does not exceed 110% MCR and 4 h in a
day, and it is mostly met by making use of the design and test
block margins of the boiler and the auxiliaries without having to
oversize the equipment.

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 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

Index (Full Version)

Chapter
Vol No. Title No. of Pages
I – Preface, Foreword and Overall Table of Contents 6
I 1 Introduction 5
I 2 General 138
I 3 Pumps 181
I 4 Compressors 149
I 5 Fans and Blowers 59
I 6 Heat Exchangers 93
I 7 Pressure vessels, Tanks and Bullets 58
I 8 Fractionators and Absorbers 396
I 9 Separators 92
I 10 Fired Heaters 142
I 11 Incinerators 68
I 12 Agitated Vessels 86
I 13 Safety Relief Systems 255
I 14 Line Sizing, Hydraulics 76
I 15 Vacuum systems 90
I 16 Utilities 469
I 17 Dryers 48
I 18 Motors 16
I 19 Evaporators 62
I 20 Pneumatic Conveying 78
I 21 Crystallisers 32
I 22 Steam and Gas Turbines 84
I 23 Leaching and Extraction 77
I 24 Special Process Items 191
I 25 Additional Process Calculations 50
 Mihir’s handbook of Chemical Process Engineering

II 26 Project Types 13
II 27 Engineering Disciplines and Sequence of 60
Engineering
II 28 Overall Engineering Documentation for all 13
Disciplines in a Project
II 29 Process Design Documentation 256
II 30 TBE Guidelines 44
II 31 Safety Studies 15
II 32 Automation and Control 138
II 33 Material of Construction 90
II 34 Cost, Time & Resource Estimation 10
II 35 Inspection and Testing 11
II 36 Precommissioning, Commissioning and 58
Guarantee Run
II 37 Specialised Studies 55
II 38 Heat Exchanger Optimization 156
II 39 Philosophies 28

III 40 Calculation Templates (40

numbers)
III 41 Checklists (25
numbers)
III 42 Datasheets (93
numbers)
III 43 Technical Bid Evaluation Formats (11
numbers)
III 44 Go-By Reference P&IDs (41
numbers)
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Handbook Details
1 No. of Chapters 44
2 No. of Pages 4000
3 Figures 2265
4 Tables 440
5 Calculation Templates 40
6 Datasheets 93
7 TBE Blank Formats 11
8 Checklists 25

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