UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE COAHUILA

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS QUIMICAS

INGENIERIA QUIMICA

PROCESS
SYNTHESIS

PhD. MARIA MAURA TELLEZ ROSAS

2021
ALTERNATIVE
CREATIONS
THE PRELIMINARY SCREENING OF ALTERNATIVES

Clearly the creation of processing alternatives should

lead to a Iarge variety of possible engineering
problems differing in concept and detail. However, it
is impossible to carry each alternative through to a
complete design to make a detailed comparison
among the alternatives.
The design of a single system may be an
enormous task, and this effort cannot be wasted
on alternatives which are defective and cannot be
shaped into commercial systems.
During preliminary screening, the engineer asks
the following questions of each alternative:
l. ls the concept illogical? A specific processing
problem may violate common sense or the principles
of technical logic.

2. Can the concept be shown to be inferior to one of

the other alternatives suggested? A paired
comparison of all alternatives often can be used to
screen alternatives.
3. Can the concept be shown to be equivalent or
inferior to a known inferior processing concept?
Certain methods of processing are known to be
inferior, and often the engineer can eliminate a
number of alternatives by showing that they are
equivalent to or less valuable than these known
inferior methods of processing.
4. Can the concept be shown to require too much
technical or economic extrapolation from existing
technology, thus involving too high a risk? A
processing concept involving the use of a heat
exchanger at 4,000°F might be rejected as being
too much of an extrapolation from existing
technology.
5. Is the concept unsafe? A process for the
manufacture of nitroglycerine in the form of an
emulsion was rejected in spite of possible economic
advantages, since the process was thought to be
unsafe.
6. Does the concept suggest a better alternative? A
given alternative may be rejected when an
examination of the concept suggests a modification
which will lead to a better concept.
7. Does the concept involve special technical
competence which our group does not possess or
which we cannot acquire through normal business
channels? An engineering firm may reject a
processing concept which involves the use of
a·plasma jet reactor for fixing nitrogen on the
grounds that this particular technology
Exercise
Storage of 60,000 Tons of Ammonia
The engineering division of a midwest engineering
firm has contracted to investigate means for storing
60,000 tons of ammonia, which will accumulate each
year, for sale in smaller amounts to the local
agricultural community.
 Exercise
The Development of a Separation Process
Ten tons per hour of miscella (15 wt per cent peanut
oil in hexane) leaves a peanut processing plant at
35°C. It is necessary to propose a processing
scheme which can separate the hexane from the oil
so that the final oil contains less than 0.01 per cent
hexane and such that the temperature never
exceeds 80°C.