CED3601: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN

Assessment 4

Reading: Learning units 4 and 5 of your study guide

Due Date: 18 August 2023

Competency level: Student must illustrate the ability to complete the provided assignment satisfactorily.

 Students need to obtain a performance mark of 50% or higher, awarded according to the mark
rubric.
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This is an individual assignment. It should be your sole effort. You may consult fellow students, internet
sources, and books (if you clearly cite and reference these sources). However, you may not copy other
students work, or ask (or even pay) another student or company (like tutoring websites) to provide you
with the solutions. Please refrain from plagiarizing websites or other sources. You are requested to be
ethical and professional in completing the assignment.
This assignment is copyrighted to UNISA and remains the property of UNISA. Please do not upload
this assignment on any website or distribute this assignment in any way.
Please include a signed declaration at the beginning of your assignment. Assignments that do not
include such a declaration will be penalized.
Example of a declaration:

“I declare that this assignment is my own work and that all sources quoted have been
acknowledged by appropriate references”.
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Production of Methyl Acetate

A new facility to produce methyl acetate is being considered due to an increase in demand.
Therefore, you have been requested to design a plant to produce 600 000 metric tons per
annum of methyl acetate (at least 99.5 wt. %). The plant is to be located in Sasolburg, South
Africa.

The following feed streams are available:

 Dimethyl ether feed is available at 10 atm and 50°C from an adjacent plant. The
dimethyl ether contains 1 mol % methanol.
 Carbon monoxide (98.0 mol % CO, 2 % H2) is available at 5 atm and 40°C.

The plant should operate for 330 days in a year, to allow for shutdown and maintenance.
{This is a repeat of the project topic from Assessment 1}

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In assessment 4, you need to conduct an economic analysis of the process. Based on the
process flow digram developed in Assessment 2 and the sizing of the major equipment in
Assessment 3,
 Calculate the capital cost of equipment (study estimate) and subsequently the total
capital investment.
o Determine the cost of equipment using the cost-capacity equation or the
correlation in your study guide (or prescribed book).
o Use the factorial method to determine the fixed capital investment.
o Estimate the working capital.
o Determine the total capital investment.
 Determine the operating cost of the process.
o Determine the fixed cost and variable cost.
o Estimate the depreciation.
o Determine tax.
 Conduct a profitability assessment of the process.
o Determine the revenue.
o Determine the cash flow and plot cash flow diagram.
o Conduct an economic evaluation using tools such as ROI, payback, NPV and
IRR.

The following pricing can be used for the raw materials:

DME CO Methyl Acetate

Price
950 380 2 000
($/ton)

Report Submission

Compile your findings in an appropriate technical report. Please refer to Learning Unit 3 of
your workbook for information regarding how the report should be structured. Please
remember that the main report will not contain all calculation steps, these can be included in
an Appendix.

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Mark Scheme

The following scheme will be used to mark the assessment.

Assessment 4: Economic Evaluation

Total Capital Investment 30

Operating (production) costs 30
Economic evaluation (Cash flow, NPV, ROI, Payback etc.) 30
Overall presentation 10
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Total 100

General Reminders

The design project requires a fair amount of time and effort. Please get started as
soon as possible and manage your time well and work on your project consistently.
Do not attempt to do your project at the last minute, as you definitely will not
succeed. You might want to create a schedule or Gantt chart to plan your activities
such that you meet all deadlines. Please ensure that you submit ALL assessments as these
assessments have graduate attributes (GAs) attributed to them and failure to submit these
assessments means the GA is not met, and therefore you shall fail the module.

Another very serious issue is plagiarism. Please ensure that you reference every
source, and you don’t copy word-for-word from the internet or any other reference.
Any report which does not adhere to the plagiarism policy will automatically
receive ZERO. Do not be fooled into thinking that you won’t be caught, as every report will be
checked for plagiarism using plagiarism detection software.

Please follow the style of a technical report. Include an executive summary,

introduction, conclusion, references etc. for every report. Your workbook contains
valuable information about what content is required in the report and how to
structure the report. Give references for all information. Substantiate all
assumptions.

Conclusion

Remember that the design module is a culmination of your studies. It is one of the most
challenging modules you will complete. We wish you success in your design project. Please
feel free to contact your lecturer if you have any questions or queries.

Regards

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