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CPI Lesson 2. Chemical Processing
CPI Lesson 2. Chemical Processing
CPI Lesson 2. Chemical Processing
Industries [1]
LESSON 2:
CHEMICAL PROCESSING AND THE WORK OF THE CHEMICAL ENGINEER
Contents
Commercial
chemical
processing involves
chemical
conversions and
physical operations
and presupposes
factory scale
equipment and
Chemical
Engineering Image source: https://www.gtreview.com/power-plant-factory/
experience.
Contents
Yield
– fraction of raw material recovered as the main (desired) product
– the most important single factor in cost
Conversion
– fraction changed to something else, whether products or by- products
– indicates the amount changed by a single pass through an apparatus when
multiple passes are used
Kinetics
The Haber-Bosch
Process [5]
Batch process
performing of an industrial process on material in batches of a limited
quantity or number
can be measure most concisely and readily duplicated
Continuous process
process where product comes out without interruption and not in groups
require smaller, less expensive equipment
less material in process, more uniform operating conditions and products
require more concise control of flows and conditions (computer control)
3. Batch vs Continuous Processing
Source: https://blog.processsystemsdesign.com/2017/09/batch-processing-vs-continuous.html
Contents
A flowchart is a graphical
representation of a process,
coordinating the sequence of
unit operations and unit
processes
Equipment
“items necessary for a
purpose”
Chemical engineers
must be familiar with
industrial equipment
Pump
Filter press
Distillation tower
etc.
See: Chemical
Engineering Catalog
Instrument Types
1. Indicating instruments 1. Analog instruments
- Present current data, value or - Show results by mechanical movement of
deviation from a norm some type of device, which is proportional to
the quantity being measured
- Ex. Spring thermometer, Bourdon gages
2. Recording instruments
- Permit study and analysis
2. Digital instruments
- Utilize a transducer and electronic circuitry to
3. Indicating/Recording and convert signals to readable numerical figures
Controlling instruments (digits), which are displayed and/or recorded
- Permit all of the above and - Transducer – a device to convert the quantity
control the operation being measured into some type of signal
(electrical or pneumatic)
6. Chemical Process Control and
Instrumentation
Chemical analytical control
conventional procedure used in factories for analysis of
incoming raw material and outgoing product
too slow, expensive, dependent on questionable sampling
procedures
Automated control
fast, reliable, sensitive, has become economically feasible
1 3
Examples of
systems that
have been
automated
and used 2
industrially
1. Chromatography [6]
2. pH sensors and
conductivity analysis [7]
3. Mass spectroscopy [8]
Contents
Competing Material
Energy
Processes Balances
Overall
Labor
Cost
7. Chemical Process Economics
Competing Processes
Competing Processes
Competing Material
Energy
Processes Balances
Overall
Labor
Cost
7. Chemical Process Economics
Material Balances
Yields and conversions of the chemical process form the basis for
the material balances, which in turn are the foundation for cost
determination.
When obtainable, materials and quantities from standard practice
are tabulated under the flowcharts.
7. Chemical Process Economics
Competing Material
Energy
Processes Balances
Overall
Labor
Cost
7. Chemical Process Economics
Energy
Competing Material
Energy
Processes Balances
Overall
Labor
Cost
7. Chemical Process Economics
Labor
Competing Material
Energy
Processes Balances
Overall
Labor
Cost
7. Chemical Process Economics
Overall Cost
The cost of processing cannot be finally obtained until the plant is in operation,
but an experienced chemical engineer can closely estimate it.
The single largest cost is usually raw material, with energy, labor, overhead, and
depreciation all being significant.
Most errors in cost estimation are due to underestimation of overhead, sales,
customer service, and capital required to finance daily operations of the business.
After the plant has been designed, bids can be obtained for the equipment,
which indicates the amount of capital necessary for construction.
High interest rates and constantly rising costs make delays extremely expensive.
Taxes may also be a major factor.
7. Chemical Process Economics
Overall Cost
Capital spending for new plants:
Table 2.1. Chemical Industries Capital Spending for New Plants (in
billions of dollars)*
1981** 1980 1978 1976 1974 1972
Chemicals and allied products 13.11 12.60 8.46 8.12 6.48 3.38
Iron and steel 3.27 3.29 2.52 3.04 1.94 1.06
Nonferrous metals 3.59 3.11 2.11 1.97 2.04 0.97
Paper 6.73 6.80 3.99 3.01 2.90 1.45
Petroleum 25.17 20.69 13.95 10.76 7.31 4.80
Rubber 2.30 1.73 2.10 1.32 1.56 1.03
Stone, clay, glass 3.90 3.82 3.10 1.88 1.64 1.33
All manufacturing 129.85 115.81 79.72 59.95 53.21 35.42
*Domestic capital spending
**Estimate.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Chem. Eng. News 59 (23) 49 (1981).
Contents
Packaging
*The US has been most progressive in the development of bulk means of transportation, not only for entire trainloads of
coal, oil, and gasoline, but also for such things as molasses.
8. Market Evaluation
Packaging
Video Source:
https://www.yout
ube.com/watch?
v=sdsiQ0b0GEI
10. Safety: Hazards such as Fire or
Toxic Materials
Nothing is so destructive to a plant as fire
Precautions to prevent/fight fire must be considered in the design of
any chemical plant
Employees must be protected against toxic chemicals (both real
and imagined)
Those exposed to hazards must be informed when/where such exist
Safety measures save money by reducing premiums paid for liability
and fire insurance
Frequently, familiarity with chemicals breeds carelessness; well-run
plants have safety devices for alerting those working with hazards
10. Safety: Hazards such as Fire or
Toxic Materials
Adequate safety and fire protection measures require expert
guidance.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provides
safety rules for manufacturing plants to improve working conditions
Employers who do not comply with the standards set by OSHA suffer
penalties of fines and/or imprisonment for repeated willful violations.
Plants may be closed for nonconformance.
10. Safety: Hazards such as Fire or Toxic Materials
Initial standards
already issued
Permanent standards
Can be set only after formal proceedings where interested persons
have a chance to submit their views and objections
10. Safety: Hazards such as Fire or
Toxic Materials
The chemical industry generally has had an excellent safety record
even prior to OSHA
With OSHA, even greater efforts in stressing safety are required
The research arm of OSHA has attempted to identify and regulate
the handling of toxic substances, particularly carcinogens
(substances that cause cancer) and teratogens (substances that
cause malformation of fetus)
There is a considerable difference of opinion about how dangerous
many of these materials are – it will take years before formal
proceedings are completed and permanent standards are set
Knowledge of the effects of small concentrations over a long period
of time is extremely limited
Contents
Labor
Chemical plants use mainly skilled labor with a very limited requirement
for unskilled manual workers
Contents
Table 2.3. Company Funds for Industrial R&D (in million dollars)
*Estimate
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Chem. Eng. News 59 (30) 62 (1981).
14. Patents
“More and more, engineers are realizing that they can no longer
think of a process plant as a collection of individually designed
operations and processes.
It is becoming increasingly evident that each separate unit of a
plant influences all others in subtle ways.”
- Dr. Theodore J. Williams