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Integrated Maintenance and Energy

Management in the Chemical Industries


Kiran R. Golwalkar
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Kiran R. Golwalkar

Integrated
Maintenance
and Energy
Management
in the Chemical
Industries
Integrated Maintenance and Energy Management
in the Chemical Industries
Kiran R. Golwalkar

Integrated Maintenance and


Energy Management in the
Chemical Industries
Kiran R. Golwalkar
Consulting Chemical Engineer
Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

ISBN 978-3-030-32525-1    ISBN 978-3-030-32526-8 (eBook)


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32526-8

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims
in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Dedicated to those maintenance and
operating technicians who work hard in a
spirit of cooperation for the safe, pollution
free, and efficient running of the chemical
industries.
Preface

Chemical industries provide many essential products for meeting the daily
requirements of the citizens and also for the economic growth of a country.
Managements run the chemical industries successfully by meeting the product
quality and delivery schedules specified by the clients while operating safely and
efficiently without causing environmental pollution.
It is well known that the cost of production depends on the yield of raw materials,
smooth working of the plant, energy consumption, and recovery. However, it is very
difficult to control the cost of raw material which depends on the availability as per
specifications and certain external factors like weather conditions, transport
bottlenecks, power tariff, etc.
Hence, it is very important to have an efficient integrated maintenance and
energy management for ensuring smooth, efficient running of the chemical plant
which can reduce the cost of production. It is also very important to keep in mind
that the selling price of products will depend on the competition in market.
A large number of chemical industries need considerable energy (mainly electrical
and thermal) for carrying out various operations like handling and pre-treatment of
raw materials, operation of the reactors, further processing (purification) of crude
products, and safe disposal of any hazardous waste generated. Senior engineers
should look into all these activities carefully for reducing the need for energy.
The operating cost of the process units and machinery can thus be reduced by
integrated maintenance and energy management (minimising losses, conservation
of energy, and maximising recovery from process streams).

Conflicting Priorities

Important departments of the industry such as purchase and sales, production plants,
maintenance section for process units and machinery, stores (inventory control), and
utility arrangements (water, power, and fuels) face different situations and have

vii
viii Preface

their own priorities in their working areas. Human resources, research and
development, logistics, and finance also have their own priorities.
However, priorities of these departments/sections may not be concurrent.
Managements shall prepare guidelines and instructions for these various
departments so that all of them understand each other’s difficulties and work in
close cooperation to meet the common goal of successful running of the organization
while ensuring safety in all activities.

Revenue Allocation

The revenue obtained by sale of products shall be judiciously allocated to procure


(i) necessary raw materials and other inputs; (ii) spares for maintenance of process
units, plant machinery, energy recovery units and facilities for effluents treatment;
(iii) wages to employees; (iv) provision for depreciation of equipments; (v) expenses
on research and development; (vi) taxes to statutory authorities; and (vii) payment
to investors.
Managements of running plants also have to consider and take decisions for:
• Acquiring idle plants (which may be available at low cost) and reviving them
• Expansion of production capacity to meet increased demand
• Diversification to new products for increasing the presence in market
• Modernisation of existing process plants for improving efficiency
• Making certain changes in the plant for safer working and/or better pollution
control
Suggestions can be generated in-house after consultation with various
departments for all of the above to get improved design or better construction of
processing units.
This book gives guidelines for:
Integrated Maintenance: Planning and Implementation
(Very important for a safe, efficient plant which does not cause environmental
pollution):
(i) Assistance for preparing purchase orders for process units and machinery (see
below), (ii) ensuring safety of human beings and plant assets, (iii) assistance to
increase equipment life, (iv) guidance for operating the plant within safe limits as
recommended by OEM, (v) regular condition monitoring of equipments and
preventive maintenance, (vi) analysis of breakdowns, (vii) arranging timely repairs,
(viii) replacement of components by procuring correct spares, (ix) planning for
major maintenance jobs and safe procedures for all activities
Procurement activities: classification of process units, materials and
machinery
• Capital equipments such as process units and machinery
Preface ix

• Process inputs such as raw materials, catalysts, stabilisers, tower internals, and
filter aids
• Equipments related to energy and utilities such as waste heat recovery boilers,
steam turbine/gas turbine driven generators, electrical motors, and refrigeration
plants
Maintenance engineers have the responsibility to maintain the chemical plant so
that it can work in a safe, smooth, pollution free, and efficient manner.
Their jobs involve not only looking after machineries like pumps, compressors,
conveyors, and electrical equipments but also working in close cooperation with
process operation engineers and plant operators for the cleaning of process units
like reactors, converters, evaporators, and absorption towers, thorough inspection of
their internals, and repair/replace the faulty units.
This may require entering inside such processing units and remain there for
several hours for cleaning, inspection, and repairs till the units are ready for restart.

Assistance to Plant Management

The senior management must involve chemical process engineers along with
maintenance engineers when selecting the process technology and machinery when
a new plant is set up, an idle plant is revived, or an existing plant is diversified.
These engineers have to apply their knowledge and experience to check whether
the process units and machinery will be able to deliver the required performance in
terms of rated capacity per day and total production per annum (which depends on
total running time per year), while handling the various chemicals in severe
operating conditions. The design and construction of the equipments should be
carefully checked during the procurement of machinery itself so that deterioration
of performance shall not occur (less output, not able to meet quality, development
of unsafe conditions) during operation of the plant and heavy costs are not incurred
due to frequent breakdowns.
The required performance, necessary features, material of constructions,
operating conditions etc shall be frozen and clearly mentioned in the inquiry
document for process units and machinery.
Drafting the purchase orders: terms and conditions to be included
For a new plant: safe, efficient process units and machinery with proper conditions
for performance guarantees for output and environmental pollution control
Expansion/diversification of existing plant: possibility for improving the plant
layout, better process control by the use of appropriate well-maintained
instrumentation, maximising energy efficiency
(Terms and conditions for performance guarantee for the machinery must be
specified in the purchase order and agreed upon by the supplier. Include terms and
conditions for annual maintenance contract also if required.)
x Preface

Maintenance of Plant:
• Process units along with their internals (absorption tower internals, filter cloth,
etc.)
• Machinery essential for the safe and smooth operation
• Effluent treatment facilities for controlling environmental pollution
• Important electrical equipments such as transformers, motors, rectifiers
• Instrumentation and civil works

Inventory Control

Keeping adequate stock of essential inputs required for process units,


Effluent treatment Plant
Maintaining sufficient spares for machinery in the plant
Energy Management: Maximizing Energy Efficiency
• Reduction of consumption by improving the plant layout, for easier handling of
procurement of the right materials
• Minimisation of losses of energy by better refractory lining and insulation
• Evaluation of potential for energy recovery
• Selection, operation, and maintenance of efficient heat recovery equipments
• Cogeneration (power and heat)
Useful tips are also given for (i) increasing life of plant units, (ii) good
lubrication of machinery, (iii) reducing vibrations in running units for better
performance, and (iv) repairs to protective lining of process units.
These tips are useful as they can minimise the breakdowns and hence can reduce
energy losses (which occur during frequent stop and restart of the plant).
The main aim of the book is to acknowledge the responsible hard work put in by
the maintenance teams of various disciplines and to create an understanding among
production, marketing, finance, and human resources departments to work in
cooperation.
The book also aims to highlight the management of (i) maintenance of process
units and their internal equipment and (ii) maintenance of the machinery used in the
plant for (iii) safe and smooth operation thereby maximising energy efficiency of
the production unit without causing environmental pollution.
The book thus aims to highlight the Integrated Maintenance and Energy
Management for the successful running of a chemical plant.
This book has therefore been written in a simplified manner for a better
appreciation of the practical situations by the readers (who could be plant managers,
fresh engineers, and students of chemical, mechanical electrical, and industrial
engineering).
Preface xi

Suggestions are welcome from the readers for including more information and
improving the book further.

Nagpur, Maharashtra, India  Kiran R. Golwalkar


 
Acknowledgement

I am grateful to the following executives:


Mr Michael Luby, Senior Publishing Editor, Engineering (Springer Science +
Business Media) New York, USA, for the permission to refer the following books
published by Springer for information related to waste heat recovery boiler, steam
turbines, electrical systems, converters, procurement of equipments, safety matters,
cooling towers, history cards, etc.
1. Process Equipment Procurement in the Chemical and Related Industries
2. Production Management of the Chemical Industries
Mr Brian Halm, Project Coordinator, Springer Science+Business Media,
New York, USA, for the support and guidance in writing the present book.
I am also especially grateful to Mr Peter Shyamal N., Production Editor
(Books), Springer Nature, SPi, Chennai (India), Mr Arun Pandian and Ms Priyanka
for their support to complete this book.
I wish to thank the managements of the following organisations for providing the
permissions to use the data and information related to their products:
1. SKG Refractories, MIDC Industrial Area, Butibori, India
2. Evergreen Technologies, Mumbai, India
3. V K Engineers, MIDC Tarapur, India
4. Calderys India Refractories Ltd, Mount Road, Sadar, Nagpur, India
Many useful suggestions were received from my colleagues, seniors, vendors of
process units, machinery, and energy recovery units and the technicians who oper-
ated and maintained them. These have also been used while writing this book. I
thank all of them.
I thank my students Chirag Thakur and Ms Shruti Bhoyar, who were helpful in
writing this book.
Mr Shripad Paraskar gave sincere support for typing the manuscript and for pre-
paring some drawings.

xiii
xiv Acknowledgement

I have referred to my class notes, standard textbooks on chemical engineering,


Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, technical literature advertised by suppliers, and
my own experience of working in India and other countries for the procurement,
commissioning, operation, and maintenance of various chemical plants.
I have referred to standard textbooks on chemical process industries, Chemical
Engineers’ Handbook, my own classroom notes, and the practical experience gained
while working in various capacities for design, modernising, diversification, erec-
tion, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of chemical industries in India
(GRASIM Industries, Gopalanand Rasayan, Kesoram Rayon, Tanfac Industries,
Parksons Dyestuff, IDI Chemicals Ltd, National Rayon Corporation Ltd, SMS
Infrastructure, Vidula Chemicals and Manufacturing Industries, V K Engineers,
Evergreen Technologies, SKG Refractories, Calderys India, NEAT Consultancy
Ltd, etc.), in Kenya (East Africa Heavy Chemicals), Thailand (Thai Rayon Co.), and
Indonesia (PT Indo-Bharat Rayon) for writing on various process units, their con-
struction, plant machinery, and their operation and maintenance in various chapters
of the book.
Various advertisements by manufacturers of process units, plant machinery, and
heat recovery equipments as well as technical discussions with sales engineers,
technical representatives, and experienced operating and maintenance engineers of
these units have also been used for the present book.
I am deeply grateful to Respected Mr Michael Luby, Senior Publishing Editor,
Engineering (Springer Science + Business Media) New York, USA, for the permis-
sion to refer to the above books published by Springer for matters related to Waste
Heat Recovery Boiler, Steam Turbines, electrical systems, converters, procurement
of equipments, safety matters, cooling towers, etc and wish to acknowledge
the same.
Kiran Golwalkar
Contents

1 Introduction to Some Important Chemical Industries������������������������    1


1.1 Introduction to Some Important Chemical Industries����������������������    1
1.2 Importance of Process Units and Machinery������������������������������������    1
1.3 Brief Description of Some Important Chemical Industries��������������    2
1.3.1 Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid��������������������������������������������    2
1.3.2 Manufacture of 25%, 65% Oleum, Liquid SO3 Plants ��������    3
1.3.3 Manufacture of Papermaker’s Alum ������������������������������������    4
1.3.4 Manufacture of Alum������������������������������������������������������������    4
1.3.5 Manufacture of Single Super Phosphate������������������������������    5
1.3.6 Manufacture of Caustic Soda and Chlorine
by Electrolysis����������������������������������������������������������������������    6
1.3.7 Manufacture of Nitric Acid��������������������������������������������������    7
1.3.8 Carbon Di-Sulphide (Electric Furnace Process) ������������������    8
1.3.9 Manufacture of Viscose Rayon (Staple Fiber)����������������������    8
1.3.10 Manufacture of Refractory Bricks����������������������������������������    9
1.3.11 Petroleum Industries ������������������������������������������������������������   10
1.3.12 Manufacture of Sugar ����������������������������������������������������������   11
1.4 Some Important Equipments in Process Plants
Described Above ������������������������������������������������������������������������������   11
1.4.1 Some Typical Process Units and Mechanical
Equipments ��������������������������������������������������������������������������   11
1.4.2 Typical Essential Features of Equipments Used
in Above Industries ��������������������������������������������������������������   12
1.4.3 Process and Operation which Have Considerable
Energy Changes��������������������������������������������������������������������   13
2 Managing the Organisation��������������������������������������������������������������������   15
2.1 Typical Features of Chemical Industries������������������������������������������   15
2.2 Guidelines from Board of Directors for Integrated Management����   16
2.3 Modern Management: Aims, Policies and Priorities������������������������   16
  2.3.1 Typical Aims ������������������������������������������������������������������������   17

xv
xvi Contents

2.4 Typical Policies ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������   17


2.5 Typical Priorities ������������������������������������������������������������������������������   18
2.6 Integrated Management of Chemical Industries ������������������������������   19
2.7 Regular Interactions��������������������������������������������������������������������������   20
2.8 Guidelines and Instructions��������������������������������������������������������������   20
2.9 Revision of Policies��������������������������������������������������������������������������   20
2.10 Departments in the Organisation������������������������������������������������������   21
2.10.1 Marketing������������������������������������������������������������������������������   21
2.10.2 Production Units ������������������������������������������������������������������   22
2.10.3 Safety Department����������������������������������������������������������������   23
2.10.4 Environmental Pollution Control������������������������������������������   24
2.10.5 Maintenance Department������������������������������������������������������   25
2.10.6 Instrumentation ��������������������������������������������������������������������   27
2.10.7 Provision of Utilities ������������������������������������������������������������   28
2.10.8 Purchase��������������������������������������������������������������������������������   28
2.10.9 Logistics��������������������������������������������������������������������������������   30
2.10.10 Human Resources (HR)������������������������������������������������������   30
2.10.11 Innovation, Research & Development (R&D)��������������������   32
2.10.12 Stores and Inventory Control of Machinery Spares������������   33
2.10.13 Commercial Matters, Finance, Taxation,
and General Administration������������������������������������������������   34
2.10.14 Project Planning, Future Expansion������������������������������������   35
3 Integrated Maintenance: Aims, Responsibilities and Activities����������   37
3.1 General Guidelines����������������������������������������������������������������������������   37
3.2 Internal Discussion among Production
and Maintenance Engineers��������������������������������������������������������������   38
3.3 Internal Study������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   38
3.3.1 Plant Capacity ����������������������������������������������������������������������   38
3.3.2 Operational Safety����������������������������������������������������������������   39
3.3.3 Design of Process Units and Machinery������������������������������   40
3.3.4 Material Handling Equipment����������������������������������������������   41
3.3.5 Essential Matters to Be Written in Purchase Order PO
for Project�����������������������������������������������������������������������������   41
3.3.6 Plant Layout for Safe Operation and Ease
of Maintenance���������������������������������������������������������������������   43
3.3.7 Performance Guarantee Test ������������������������������������������������   44
3.3.8 Annual Maintenance Contract����������������������������������������������   45
3.3.9 Quality Assurance Plan QAP������������������������������������������������   45
3.4 Responsibility of Maintenance Engineers����������������������������������������   47
3.4.1 Useful Suggestions from Maintenance Engineer������������������   48
3.5 Increasing Life of Process Units and Machinery������������������������������   50
3.5.1 Some Suggestions for Better Life of Process Units
and Equipments��������������������������������������������������������������������   50
Contents xvii

3.6 Spares for Process Units and Internals/Accessories ������������������������   54


3.6.1 Procurement of Spares����������������������������������������������������������   54
3.6.2 History Cards of Individual Process Unit ����������������������������   55
3.6.3 Safety Margin for Higher Stock Level����������������������������������   55
3.6.4 Considerations for Procurement and Storage
of Various Items��������������������������������������������������������������������   56
3.6.5 Other Necessary Spares for Process Inputs,
Equipments, and Auxiliary Items������������������������������������������   57
3.6.6 Product Quality Control (Necessary Inputs
for Maintaining Product Quality) ����������������������������������������   60
3.6.7 Auxiliary Facilities/Items for Process Plant ������������������������   60
3.6.8 Electrical Spares�������������������������������������������������������������������   61
3.6.9 Refrigeration Units���������������������������������������������������������������   62
3.6.10 Diesel Generator Sets������������������������������������������������������������   62
3.6.11 Instrumentation Spares���������������������������������������������������������   62
3.6.12 Cooling System Based on NaOH or LiBr����������������������������   62
3.6.13 Heat Recovery Boiler and Economiser��������������������������������   63
3.6.14 Process Control and Material Testing Laboratory����������������   63
3.6.15 Disposal of Hazardous Wastes (Please See Appendix
(IV) Also)������������������������������������������������������������������������������   63
3.7 Careful Production Planning and Operation ������������������������������������   63
3.7.1 General����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   64
3.7.2 Maintenance Engineer Can Propose Some Changes
in Operating Conditions in Consultation
with Production Engineers����������������������������������������������������   65
3.7.3 Operation–Dos and Don’ts (Advice Given
by Original Equipment Manufacturer)����������������������������������   67
3.7.4 Some Preventive Steps for Longer Equipment Life ������������   68
3.7.5 Installation of Special Equipments ��������������������������������������   68
3.7.6 Management Support for Innovation, Research
and Development������������������������������������������������������������������   68
3.7.7 General Guidelines for Maintenance������������������������������������   69
3.8 Main Activities of the Maintenance Department������������������������������   69
3.9 Site Fabrication Facilities������������������������������������������������������������������   71
3.10 Budgeting for Maintenance Jobs������������������������������������������������������   71
3.10.1 Observations ������������������������������������������������������������������������   71
3.10.2 Estimate Cost of Maintenance����������������������������������������������   72
3.10.3 Contingency��������������������������������������������������������������������������   73
3.11 Some Typical Accidents and Their Prevention ��������������������������������   73
3.12 Practical Matters/Issues to Be Looked into��������������������������������������   74
4 Monitoring the Process Plant������������������������������������������������������������������   77
4.1 Condition Monitoring of Process Units��������������������������������������������   77
4.1.1 Some Typical Symptoms������������������������������������������������������   77
4.1.2 Examples from Some Chemical Industries��������������������������   80
xviii Contents

4.2 Likely Reasons for Unsatisfactory Output/Performance������������������   89


4.2.1 Some Typical Causes for Unsatisfactory Performance��������   90
4.3 Typical Conditions Exceeding the Design Values
or Recommendations from OEM������������������������������������������������������   91
4.4 Technical Planning for Maintenance Work��������������������������������������   92
4.4.1 Planning for Maintenance Work ������������������������������������������   92
4.5 Examples of some Typical Cleaning Jobs of Process Units ������������   95
4.6 Record Keeping for Maintenance of Plant Units and Machinery����   95
4.6.1 Typical Operating Conditions ����������������������������������������������   97
4.6.2 Maintenance History������������������������������������������������������������   97
4.7 Considerations for Further Improvement������������������������������������������   98
4.8 Cost of Maintenance ������������������������������������������������������������������������   98
4.8.1 Direct Costs��������������������������������������������������������������������������   98
4.8.2 Indirect Costs of Maintenance����������������������������������������������   99
5 Planning for Maintenance Work������������������������������������������������������������ 101
5.1 Coordination of Maintenance Activities ������������������������������������������ 101
5.1.1 Typical Symptoms Which Indicate Chance
of Breakdown ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 101
5.2 Check List for Planning of Major Maintenance ������������������������������ 102
5.3 Advancing the Shutdown������������������������������������������������������������������ 103
5.4 Postponing the Plant Shutdown�������������������������������������������������������� 104
5.5 Carrying out Maintenance Jobs In-House���������������������������������������� 104
5.5.1 By Own Technicians/Engineers�������������������������������������������� 104
5.5.2 Through Contractors/Externals Parties �������������������������������� 105
5.5.3 Site Fabrication Jobs (May Be Done Through
External Agencies)���������������������������������������������������������������� 106
5.5.4 Award of Contract for Maintenance Work���������������������������� 106
5.5.5 Quality Assurance Plan for Contract Work�������������������������� 107
5.5.6 Conditions to Be Included in a Maintenance Contract �������� 107
5.5.7 Controversies During Maintenance Work
by Contractors/External Parties�������������������������������������������� 107
5.5.8 Additional Work Given During Execution or End
of Contract���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 109
6 Maintenance of Process Units ���������������������������������������������������������������� 111
6.1 Material Handling System���������������������������������������������������������������� 111
6.1.1 Pneumatic Conveyors������������������������������������������������������������ 111
6.1.2 Electrical Overhead Travelling (EOT) Cranes���������������������� 112
6.1.3 Hoists������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 113
6.1.4 Belt Conveyors���������������������������������������������������������������������� 113
6.1.5 Bucket Elevators ������������������������������������������������������������������ 114
6.1.6 Screw Conveyors������������������������������������������������������������������ 114
6.2 Crushers, Grinders, Pulverisers�������������������������������������������������������� 115
6.2.1 Air Classifier ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 115
Contents xix

6.3 Units Operating at High Temperatures (Furnaces,


Reactors, Oxidisers.)������������������������������������������������������������������������ 116
6.4 Process Reactors (Fixed Unit with No Moving Parts)���������������������� 116
6.4.1 Reactors with Heating/Cooling Arrangements �������������������� 117
6.5 Absorption Towers���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 118
6.5.1 Observations During Operation�������������������������������������������� 118
6.5.2 Fibre Bed Mist Eliminators (FBME)������������������������������������ 120
6.5.3 Drying and Final Absorption Towers������������������������������������ 122
6.6 Catalytic Converters (Fixed Beds of Catalyst)���������������������������������� 123
6.6.1 Heat Exchange Surfaces ������������������������������������������������������ 123
6.6.2 Converter Overhaul�������������������������������������������������������������� 126
6.6.3 Conversion System with Fluidised Bed�������������������������������� 128
6.7 Filter Press FP ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 128
6.8 Pressure Leaf Filter- (Example: For Liquid Sulphur)���������������������� 131
6.8.1 Observation During Running������������������������������������������������ 131
6.8.2 Maintenance Work���������������������������������������������������������������� 132
6.9 Trombone Coolers���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 132
6.9.1 Observations for Trombone Cooler�������������������������������������� 133
6.9.2 Maintenance: (Check and Attend)���������������������������������������� 133
6.10 Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers������������������������������������������������������ 134
6.10.1 Allowable Pressure Drop������������������������������������������������������ 134
6.10.2 Materials of Construction–Typical �������������������������������������� 135
6.10.3 Maintenance: Check the Following Thoroughly������������������ 135
6.11 Plate Heat Exchangers���������������������������������������������������������������������� 136
6.12 Condensers for Volatile Materials���������������������������������������������������� 137
6.12.1 Observation during Operation of Incoming
Vapors/Gaseous Streams������������������������������������������������������ 137
6.12.2 General���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 137
6.12.3 Vertical Unit�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 138
6.12.4 Condenser (Horizontal Units) ���������������������������������������������� 138
6.13 Rotary Dryers������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 138
6.14 Tray Dryers �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 139
6.15 Hot Gas Filter������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 139
6.15.1 Observations to Be Made During Operation
of the Plant���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 140
6.15.2 Maintenance�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 140
6.16 Multiple Effect Evaporators�������������������������������������������������������������� 140
6.16.1 Important Components of a Multiple Effect
Evaporation System�������������������������������������������������������������� 141
6.16.2 Observations to Be Made During Operation������������������������ 142
6.16.3 Maintenance Procedure�������������������������������������������������������� 142
6.16.4 Items to Be Inspected and Attended������������������������������������� 143
6.17 Water Treatment Plants �������������������������������������������������������������������� 143
6.17.1 Main Components of a Typical Water Treatment Plant�������� 144
6.17.2 Observations to Be Made During Operation������������������������ 144
6.17.3 Maintenance�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 145
xx Contents

6.18 Sludge Settler������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 145


6.19 Air Pollution Control System����������������������������������������������������������� 146
6.19.1 Observation on Individual APC Units���������������������������������� 146
6.19.2 Cyclones�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 147
6.19.3 Impingement Separators ������������������������������������������������������ 148
6.19.4 Bag Filters���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 149
6.19.5 Ventury scrubber ������������������������������������������������������������������ 149
6.19.6 Packed Scrubbing Tower������������������������������������������������������ 151
6.20 Induced Draft Fans (Rubber Lined)�������������������������������������������������� 152
6.21 Electro Static Precipitators (ESP) – Dry/Wet Type�������������������������� 152
7 Maintenance of Common Machinery, Process Units
and Equipments �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 153
7.1 Stationary or Static Equipments�������������������������������������������������������� 153
7.1.1 Chimney�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 153
7.1.2 Steel Structural Members: Regularly Inspect
and Attend Any Weak Spots �������������������������������������������������� 154
7.1.3 Elevated Storage Reservoirs (ESR)�������������������������������������� 155
7.1.4 Vertical Storage Tanks���������������������������������������������������������� 155
7.1.5 Horizontal Cylindrical Storage Tanks���������������������������������� 157
7.1.6 Weigh Bridges���������������������������������������������������������������������� 158
7.1.7 Ducts and Piping ������������������������������������������������������������������ 158
7.1.8 Metering Tanks �������������������������������������������������������������������� 158
7.2 Electrical Items �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 159
7.2.1 Erection and Commissioning Activities (Including
Site Fabrication)�������������������������������������������������������������������� 160
7.2.2 Power Required for Operation���������������������������������������������� 160
7.2.3 Equipments and Facilities to Be Installed���������������������������� 160
7.2.4 Maintenance of Other facilities�������������������������������������������� 164
7.2.5 Diesel Generators������������������������������������������������������������������ 165
7.2.6 Captive Power Generation���������������������������������������������������� 165
7.2.7 Uninterrupted Power Supply UPS���������������������������������������� 166
7.3 Rotary Equipments���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 166
7.3.1 Typical Rotary Equipments�������������������������������������������������� 166
7.3.2 Features Required ���������������������������������������������������������������� 167
7.3.3 Type of Speed Control Required������������������������������������������ 167
7.3.4 Types of Relief Mechanisms������������������������������������������������ 168
7.3.5 Installation in Plant �������������������������������������������������������������� 168
7.3.6 Fans, Blowers, Compressors, Exhausters ���������������������������� 168
7.3.7 Reciprocating Compressor���������������������������������������������������� 171
7.4 Some Auxiliary Equipments ������������������������������������������������������������ 173
7.4.1 Typical Effluent Treatment Plant������������������������������������������ 173
7.4.2 Dissolvers������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 175
7.4.3 Melters, Ball Mills, Ribbon Blenders ���������������������������������� 176
7.4.4 Oil Firing System������������������������������������������������������������������ 178
7.4.5 Rotary Screen������������������������������������������������������������������������ 179
Contents xxi

7.4.6 Pumps for Process Liquids��������������������������������������������������� 180


7.5 Pressure Vessels�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 181
7.5.1 Classification of Pressure Vessels: Fired and Unfired���������� 181
7.5.2 Some Examples of Pressure Vessels ������������������������������������ 182
7.5.3 Considerations for Procurement of Pressure Vessels������������ 183
7.5.4 Further Considerations for Design and Fabrication�������������� 184
7.5.5 Materials of Construction (MOC)���������������������������������������� 185
7.5.6 Heads for pressure vessels���������������������������������������������������� 186
7.5.7 Checking Fabrication Activities�������������������������������������������� 186
7.5.8 Documents to Be Available to Plant Engineers�������������������� 187
7.5.9 Quality Assurance Plan �������������������������������������������������������� 188
7.5.10 Statutory Documents: To Be Made Available
to Purchaser by Vendor �������������������������������������������������������� 189
7.5.11 Safety Valves������������������������������������������������������������������������ 189
7.5.12 Pre-commissioning Checks�������������������������������������������������� 190
7.5.13 Operation of Pressure Vessels ���������������������������������������������� 191
7.5.14 Additional precautions���������������������������������������������������������� 191
7.5.15 Maintenance of Pressure Vessels������������������������������������������ 192
7.6 Civil Works and Their Maintenance ������������������������������������������������ 194
7.6.1 Preventive Steps for Civil Structures and Foundations�������� 194
7.6.2 Safe Load Bearing Capacity of Soil������������������������������������� 194
7.6.3 Alternative Plant Layouts������������������������������������������������������ 194
7.6.4 Civil Structures and Foundations������������������������������������������ 195
7.6.5 Other Civil Works ���������������������������������������������������������������� 195
7.6.6 Observations and Maintenance �������������������������������������������� 196
8 Tools and Facilities for In-House Maintenance������������������������������������ 197
8.1 Arranging Facilities for In-House Maintenance ������������������������������ 197
8.1.1 Maintenance Tools and Facilities������������������������������������������ 197
8.1.2 Dynamic Balancing Machine������������������������������������������������ 198
8.1.3 Maintenance Tools and Facilities for Process Units ������������ 199
8.1.4 Refractory, Rubber, and Other Linings�������������������������������� 200
8.1.5 Equipments for Fabrication�������������������������������������������������� 200
8.2 Instrumentation Control�������������������������������������������������������������������� 200
8.2.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 200
8.2.2 Parameters Generally to Be Measured and Controlled�������� 201
8.2.3 Procurement of Instruments�������������������������������������������������� 202
8.2.4 Some Special Instruments���������������������������������������������������� 202
8.2.5 Typical Working Principle of Some Instruments������������������ 203
8.2.6 Procure Necessary Accessories�������������������������������������������� 203
8.2.7 Controlling Instruments�������������������������������������������������������� 203
8.2.8 Precautions to Be Taken During Installation
of Instruments ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 204
8.2.9 Auxiliary Facilities and Equipments to Be Kept Ready ������ 204
8.2.10 Some Common Reasons for Wrong Indications/
Malfunctioning of Instruments �������������������������������������������� 205
xxii Contents

8.2.11 Corrective Actions���������������������������������������������������������������� 205


8.2.12 Maintenance of Instrumentation on Regular Basis�������������� 206
8.2.13 Some Typical Thermocouples���������������������������������������������� 207
8.2.14 Selection of the Thermocouple �������������������������������������������� 207
9 Trial Runs and Restarts of Equipment After Maintenance Work������ 209
9.1 Analysis and Planning for Maintenance ������������������������������������������ 209
9.2 Mechanical Trials������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 210
9.3 Pumps Used in the Plant ������������������������������������������������������������������ 210
9.3.1 Vertical Submerged Pumps �������������������������������������������������� 210
9.3.2 Horizontal Pumps Installed Outside ������������������������������������ 211
9.4 Steam Jacketed/Heating Jacketed Pumps, Pipelines and Valves������ 211
9.4.1 Reciprocating Pumps������������������������������������������������������������ 211
9.5 Metering Pumps�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 212
9.5.1 Check Points ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 212
9.6 Corrosion and Erosion of Pumps in Chemical Plant������������������������ 212
9.7 Filter Press���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 213
9.8 PHE (Plate Heat Exchanger)������������������������������������������������������������ 214
9.8.1 Checking Before Trial Run �������������������������������������������������� 214
9.9 Air Pollution Control System (Venturi and Packed Tower)������������ 215
9.10 Wet Electro Static Precipitator WESP���������������������������������������������� 215
9.10.1 Checking Before Trial Run �������������������������������������������������� 215
9.10.2 Maintenance Check�������������������������������������������������������������� 215
9.10.3 Wet ESP�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 216
9.11 Oil Firing System������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 216
9.11.1 Check During Maintenance and Trials Thereafter���������������� 216
9.12 Rotary Screens (for Separation)�������������������������������������������������������� 217
9.12.1 Trial Run of Rotary Screens������������������������������������������������� 217
9.13 Condensers (Check After Maintenance) ������������������������������������������ 218
9.14 Converter (Check After Maintenance)���������������������������������������������� 218
9.15 Ball Mill (Maintenance and Subsequent Check)������������������������������ 218
9.16 ID Fans (Check During Maintenance and Trials Thereafter) ���������� 219
9.17 Melter/Dissolver (Steam Heated with Agitator) During
Maintenance and Trials Thereafter �������������������������������������������������� 219
9.18 Heat Exchanger (Check After Maintenance)������������������������������������ 219
9.19 Hoists and Electrically Operated Travelling EOT Crane
(Check After Maintenance)�������������������������������������������������������������� 219
9.20 Belt Conveyor, Bucket Elevator (Check After Maintenance) ���������� 220
9.21 Screw Conveyor (Check After Maintenance) ���������������������������������� 220
9.22 Disposal of Waste from Various Units���������������������������������������������� 220
10 Management Approach to Increasing Energy Efficiency�������������������� 223
10.1 Erection ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 223
10.1.1 Mechanical Trials���������������������������������������������������������������� 223
10.1.2 Trials of More Machines/Sub-Sections of the Plant ���������� 224
10.1.3 Dry Run of the Plant (Without Feeding Raw Materials)���� 224
Contents xxiii

10.1.4 Restart of the Plant After Major Stoppage/


Annual Shut Down�������������������������������������������������������������� 225
10.2 Better Technology �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 226
10.2.1 Better Technology for Oleum �������������������������������������������� 226
10.2.2 Continuous Process for 65% Oleum ���������������������������������� 226
10.2.3 Better Process for Liquid SO2 ��������������������������������������������  228
10.3 Better Plant Layouts: Some Examples�������������������������������������������� 228
10.3.1 Layout for Sulphuric Acid Plant ���������������������������������������� 228
10.3.2 Guidelines for Improving Plant Layout������������������������������ 229
10.3.3 Layout for a Typical Viscose Rayon Plant�������������������������� 230
10.4 Packaged Boilers���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 230
10.5 Heating Systems������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 232
10.5.1 Electrical Heating��������������������������������������������������������������� 232
10.5.2 Heating by Steam���������������������������������������������������������������� 234
10.5.3 Oil Fired Heating System��������������������������������������������������� 235
10.5.4 Coal Fired Heating�������������������������������������������������������������� 238
10.5.5 Fuel Gas Fired Heating (Natural Gas, LPG, Propane)������� 239
10.5.6 Heating by Hot Process Gases�������������������������������������������� 240
10.5.7 Heating by Heat Transfer Oils (Hot Thermic Fluids) �������� 241
10.5.8 Format �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 242
10.6 Selection of Better Design of Process and Equipments������������������ 244
10.7 Exploring More Sources for Heat Recovery for Further
Improvement������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 246
10.8 Selection Criteria for Energy Saving/
Energy Recovery Equipment���������������������������������������������������������� 247
10.8.1 Design of the System���������������������������������������������������������� 247
10.8.2 Define Required/Expected Performance from
the Proposed Equipment ���������������������������������������������������� 248
10.8.3 Calculate Requirement of Energy�������������������������������������� 248
10.8.4 Materials of Construction �������������������������������������������������� 249
10.8.5 Convenience During Operation and Maintenance�������������� 249
10.8.6 Introducing New Units in the Plant������������������������������������ 250
10.8.7 Estimated Cost for the Energy/Heat Recovery
Proposal������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 250
10.8.8 Time Required for Implementation������������������������������������ 250
10.8.9 General Considerations������������������������������������������������������ 250
10.8.10 Examples of Some Heat Recovery Systems ���������������������� 251
10.9 Optimise Production Cycles ���������������������������������������������������������� 252
10.9.1 Optimise Batch Size������������������������������������������������������������ 253
10.9.2 Avoid Frequently Starting and Stopping the Plant�������������� 253
10.10 Saving Electrical Energy in Chemical Plants �������������������������������� 253
10.10.1 Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) for Speed Control�������� 255
10.10.2 Electrolysis Process Plants�������������������������������������������������� 255
xxiv Contents

11 Examples of Modified Methods for Reducing Energy


Consumption�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 259
11.1 Examples of Process Intensification ���������������������������������������������� 259
11.2 Cooling Systems and Refrigeration������������������������������������������������ 263
11.3 Spray Ponds for Cooling Water������������������������������������������������������ 264
11.4 Cooling Towers ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 264
11.4.1 Observations during Operation ������������������������������������������ 264
11.4.2 Maintenance������������������������������������������������������������������������ 265
11.5 Conventional Refrigeration Plants�������������������������������������������������� 266
11.5.1 Main Components and Machinery�������������������������������������� 266
11.5.2 Observations to Be Made for Safe
and Smooth Working���������������������������������������������������������� 267
11.5.3 Safety Valves���������������������������������������������������������������������� 267
11.5.4 Some Precautions for Maintenance Work�������������������������� 268
11.5.5 Additional Safety Precautions�������������������������������������������� 268
11.6 Unconventional Chilled Water Systems������������������������������������������ 269
11.6.1 Caustic Soda Based System������������������������������������������������ 269
11.6.2 Libr Based System�������������������������������������������������������������� 269
11.6.3 For Safety of Personnel������������������������������������������������������ 270
11.7 Other Cooling Arrangements���������������������������������������������������������� 270
11.8 Steam Jet Cooling �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 270
12 Methods for Minimising Consumption of Energy�������������������������������� 271
12.1 Project Planning������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 271
12.2 Reduce Consumption by Process Units by Better Design
and Construction ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 271
12.3 Considerations for Reducing Energy Consumption����������������������� 272
12.4 Energy Saving by Improved layout for Safe Convenient
Movements�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 273
12.5 Controlled/Modified Operations for Reducing Energy
Consumption ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 273
12.6 Monitor Losses from Equipments and Ducts
(Use Thermography Camera)��������������������������������������������������������� 274
12.7 Check Losses During Plant Operation: (Some Typical Cases)������ 274
12.8 Examine Potential for Energy Recovery:
(Please See Sect. 10.7 Also)������������������������������������������������������������ 275
12.9 Energy Audit ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 275
12.10 Comparison with Ideal Conditions ������������������������������������������������ 276
12.11 Examine the Loss of Energy During Maintenance Work �������������� 278
12.12 Minimise Energy Consumption by Procuring Better
Raw Materials �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 278
12.13 Situations to be Addressed�������������������������������������������������������������� 279
12.14 Examples of Saving Energy and Heat Recovery���������������������������� 280
12.15 Process Boilers�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 281
12.16 Optimising Power Consumption for Agitated Vessel���������������������� 283
12.17 Dual Drive System�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 283
Contents xxv

13 Retaining Thermal Energy While Simultaneously


Protecting Equipment������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 285
13.1 Refractory Materials and Their Properties�������������������������������������� 285
13.2 Installation of Refractory���������������������������������������������������������������� 289
13.3 Typical Curing Procedure �������������������������������������������������������������� 289
13.4 Observations during Running of the Process Units������������������������ 290
13.5 Maintenance of Refractory Lining�������������������������������������������������� 291
13.6 External Thermal Insulations���������������������������������������������������������� 291
13.6.1 Ducts Carrying High Temperature Gases �������������������������� 292
14 Equipments for Energy Recovery���������������������������������������������������������� 293
14.1 Selection of Waste Heat Recovery Boilers (WHRB)���������������������� 293
14.1.1 Scope of Supply (Shall Be as per Battery Limits
Agreed Between Vendor and Purchaser)���������������������������� 294
14.1.2 Performance Guarantees (as agreed mutually) ������������������ 294
14.2 Selection of Economiser ���������������������������������������������������������������� 295
14.2.1 Considerations and Scope of Supply���������������������������������� 295
14.2.2 Performance Guarantees (as agreed mutually) ������������������ 295
14.3 Problems for WHR Systems ���������������������������������������������������������� 296
14.4 Precautions for Operation of Boiler������������������������������������������������ 296
14.5 Co-Generation�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 297
14.5.1 Condensing Type Turbine �������������������������������������������������� 297
14.5.2 Back Pressure Turbine�������������������������������������������������������� 298
14.5.3 Extraction Type ������������������������������������������������������������������ 298
14.5.4 Estimation of Power and Steam Requirement�������������������� 298
14.5.5 Numerical Example������������������������������������������������������������ 298
14.5.6 Some Important Considerations for Selecting
Steam Turbines������������������������������������������������������������������� 299
14.5.7 Steam Turbine Driven Generators�������������������������������������� 300
14.5.8 Check List Before Commissioning of Steam Turbine�������� 300
14.6 Commissioning ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 301
14.6.1 Maintenance of Steam Turbine ������������������������������������������ 302
14.7 Options to Be Looked in to for the Chemical Plant������������������������ 303
14.8 Gas Turbine Generators������������������������������������������������������������������ 304
14.8.1 These Can Be Considered in Following
Typical Situations���������������������������������������������������������������� 304
14.8.2 Gas Turbo Generator: System Components������������������������ 305
14.8.3 Combustion System of Gas Turbine ���������������������������������� 305
14.8.4 Turbine�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 306
14.9 Type of Generators�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 306
14.10 Cleaning of Boilers ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 307
14.11 Boiler Maintenance������������������������������������������������������������������������ 310
14.12 Cleaning of Economiser������������������������������������������������������������������ 311
14.13 Economiser Maintenance���������������������������������������������������������������� 311
15 Safety Precautions During Maintenance and Energy Recovery��������� 313
15.1 Safety Precautions During Maintenance: General�������������������������� 313
15.2 Typical Guidelines for Safety Precautions�������������������������������������� 314
xxvi Contents

15.3 Checks by Safety Officer���������������������������������������������������������������� 314


15.4 Maintenance of Equipment Handling Dangerous Items/
Work Inside a Closed Vessel ���������������������������������������������������������� 316
15.5 Personal Protective Equipments������������������������������������������������������ 316
15.6 Alarms, Safety Devices and Interconnections
(for Electrical Tripping)������������������������������������������������������������������ 317
15.7 Safe Commissioning of Energy Recovery Units���������������������������� 318
15.7.1 HAZOP Study�������������������������������������������������������������������� 319
15.7.2 Checks Before Erection������������������������������������������������������ 319
15.7.3 Checks Before Commissioning������������������������������������������ 320
15.7.4 Observation During Operation�������������������������������������������� 321
15.8 Safety Organisation������������������������������������������������������������������������ 321
15.8.1 Safe Expansion of Capacity������������������������������������������������ 322
15.8.2 Important Inputs from Safety Officer �������������������������������� 322
15.8.3 Assistance by Safety Organisation�������������������������������������� 323
15.8.4 Emergency Response Training to Personnel���������������������� 324
15.8.5 Safety Organisation to Arrange the Following������������������� 324
15.8.6 Coordination with External Parties������������������������������������ 324
15.9 Guidelines for Storage of Petroleum Products and Fuels �������������� 324
16 Examples of Waste Heat Recovery in Chemical Industries ���������������� 327
16.1 Sulphuric Acid�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 327
16.2 Nitric Acid�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 328
16.3 Hazardous Waste Destruction Plant������������������������������������������������ 329
16.4 Distillery Spent Wash Incineration (Fig. 16.4) ������������������������������ 329
16.5 Sugar Industry�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 330
16.6 Production of SO3 by Boiling Oleum �������������������������������������������� 330
16.7 Rotary Dryer Unit of Rice Husk Ash Pelletisation Plant���������������� 330
16.8 Heat Recovery (as Hot Air) From Hot Bricks�������������������������������� 332

Appendix I: Lubrication���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 333

Appendix II: Vibration������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 337

Appendix III: Some Typical Non-destructive Tests�������������������������������������� 343

Appendix IV: Disposal of Hazardous Waste�������������������������������������������������� 345

Appendix V: Hydraulic Motors and Systems������������������������������������������������ 349

Appendix VI: Protective Lining for Process Units���������������������������������������� 351

Appendix VII: Some Welding Processes�������������������������������������������������������� 355

Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 357
Chapter 1
Introduction to Some Important Chemical
Industries

1.1 Introduction to Some Important Chemical Industries

Process units, machineries and equipments in many chemical industries are oper-
ated at high temperatures, high pressures and/or are subjected to corrosive and ero-
sive conditions.
Typical equipments used in chemical plants are:
• Crusher, pulveriser, grinders, calciners, melters, filters for pre-treatment of raw
materials
• Conveyors of various types
• Process units operating at high temperatures
• Reactors, condensers, waste heat recovery units
• Water treatment, effluent treatment, air pollution control
• Steam heated (jacketed/traced) process units, pipes, pumps and storages
• Cooling systems
• Electrical equipments

1.2 Importance of Process Units and Machinery

Production engineers and maintenance engineers should carefully understand prop-


erties of all materials being handled. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) as well
as the operating conditions of the process units and machinery in the plants must be
carefully looked in to.
Some typical units used for carrying out reactions are process reactors (specially
operating at high pressures) while units like filters, melters, calciners are used for
pre-treatment of raw materials. Heat exchangers are necessary for heating and cool-
ing of process streams for efficient running of the plant. Condensers are required for
condensation of reaction products and recovery of volatile materials; while

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1


K. R. Golwalkar, Integrated Maintenance and Energy Management in the
Chemical Industries, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32526-8_1
2 1 Introduction to Some Important Chemical Industries

a­ bsorption towers are necessary for completing the reactions, for absorbing valu-
able volatile materials and for pollution control.
It is necessary to operate and maintain all of them always in proper working
condition for safe, pollution free and smooth working of the process plant.
Careful monitoring of process operations and condition of equipments is required
to prevent any mishap since many of these materials being handled are corrosive,
inflammable/dangerous and high temperature/high pressure units are involved.
Statutory rules must be complied with to produce, store, handle, operate and
maintain the production facilities at site.
Certain mechanical equipments in these process plants need considerable energy
for their operation and careful attention during operation. They operate almost con-
tinuously and are subject to erosion and corrosion. Some typical equipments and
machinery required in these plants are highlighted in the section following descrip-
tion of the processes.
The actual process design, machinery required, installation, operation and main-
tenance efforts required will depend on product mix, scale of operations, local cli-
matic conditions, quality of raw materials available.

1.3  rief Description of Some Important Chemical


B
Industries

1.3.1 Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid

Raw sulphur is molten by steam coils and filtered by Pressure leaf filters. It is fed to
the furnace at a controlled rate to produce SO2. Temperature of the exit gases is
reduced by the WHRB before passing through the multistage converter for oxidis-
ing the SO2 to SO3. It is then absorbed in Inter Pass and Final absorption towers in
stream of circulating sulphuric acid. Product acid is transferred to storage tanks. The
drying tower serves to dry the air for the plant.
Main Equipments
• Steam coils in sulphur melter ………subjected to corrosion (free acidity in
sulphur)
• Filtration system for liquid sulphur… subjected to corrosion (free acidity in
sulphur)
• Sulphur feeding pumps……….……subjected to corrosion (free acidity in sul-
phur) and erosion due to some particulate matter (ash)
• Sulphur burning Furnace…………operation at high temperature; corrosive
gases are present.
• Air Blower …………….required to supply air to run the plant, very important
machine
• Water treatment plant…… required. to supply DM water to the WHRB and pro-
cess units plant
1.3 Brief Description of Some Important Chemical Industries 3

• Waste heat recovery boilers WHRB…… required to cool the furnace exit gases
and recover heat as steam. Subjected to corrosive gases at high temperature;
covered by statutory regulations.
• Economiser(s) … required to cool the converter exit gases and recover heat as
hot water; subjected to corrosive gases at high temperature; covered by statutory
regulations due to high pressure working.
• Boiler feed water pump(s) and piping … required. to supply DM water to the
WHRB, covered by statutory regulations due to high pressure working.
• Converter system and heat exchangers……. required to convert SO2 to SO3; sub-
jected to corrosive gases at high temperature
• Acid Circulation Tank, Acid Towers, Pumps, acid coolers ….required to operate
the SO3 absorption system and supply dry air to furnace; subjected to corrosive
concentrated acid
• Water Pumps…for producing DM water for boilers, for producing acid, for cool-
ing acid
• Instrumentation subjected to corrosive gases at high temperature, and to concen-
trated acid

1.3.2 Manufacture of 25%, 65% Oleum, Liquid SO3 Plants

• These plants are add-on units to a sulphuric acid plant. Gases from exit of con-
verter third pass are passed through cold heat exchanger CHE and economiser
(optional). The gases are now passed through 25% oleum tower to absorb SO3
and thereafter through Inter pass absorption tower for further absorption of SO3
if sulphuric acid is also to be produced. Exit gases from IPAT are reheated by
CHE and hot heat exchanger HHE to conversion temperature again; and passed
through fourth and fifth passes of converter. Exit gases from converter are passed
through economiser and oleum boiler (if SO3 vapours are to be produced). The
equipments required are:
• 25% oleum circulation tower with internals.
• 25% oleum circulation pumps and cooling system.
• Oleum boiler for generating SO3 vapours. (it can be heated by process gases or
steam).
• Heat exchangers for hot oleum exiting from boiler/incoming oleum to boiler
• 65% oleum tower with internals.
• 65% oleum circulation pumps and cooling system.
• SO3 condenser of special design
• Cooling tower
• Storage tanks
• Dispatch pumps for 25% and 65% oleum tower.
• Steam tracing of piping for 25%, 65% oleum lines and liquid SO3 tank.
4 1 Introduction to Some Important Chemical Industries

1.3.3 Manufacture of Papermaker’s Alum

Alumina hydrate is a pure raw material. It is reacted with sulphuric acid in a reactor
with acid resistant lead and brick lining and equipped with steam coils to initiate the
reaction. The reacted material is heated in evaporator to remove excess water and is
then taken out for pouring in to moulds. Sulphuric acid to be used for this product
should not contain more than 50 ppm iron. Only demineralised water should be
used. The steam coils shall be of stainless steel 316 L or of hardened lead (if permit-
ted by client).
• Hoist …required to take up alumina hydrate bags to reactor
• Main reactor with lead and brick lining (MS-LL-BL)… subjected to corrosion
due to free acidity
• Boiler with accessories…essential to supply steam to reactor and evaporator
• Fuel tank, Fuel oil pump, Air Blower ….to operate the boiler
• Water treatment plant…to feed the boiler and reactor
• Steam coils…to run the reactor and evaporator; subjected to acidic corrosion
• Acid transfer pump, and acid day tank… to feed the reactor; subjected to corro-
sive concentrated acid

1.3.4 Manufacture of Alum

Bauxite lumps are crushed and ground to 150 mesh (about 85%) and then fed to
reactor lined with acid resistant bricks. 98% sulphuric acid and filtrate (with recov-
ered alum) from filter press is added to the reactor. Live steam or specially lined
steam pipe is used for stirring and reaction. The reaction mass is sent to clarifier to
settle the unreacted impurities. Clarified solution is evaporated by using steam coils
made from stainless steel 316 L or hardened lead. The concentrated solution is
poured in moulds, crushed and bagged.
• Bauxite feeder …to feed bauxite lumps to crusher; subject to erosion
• Crushing and Grinding Machines…to produce bauxite powder; subject to
erosion
• Bag filter for dust control…for pollution control
• Acid Resistant Brick lined Reactor…for main reaction, subjected to erosion as
well as acidic corrosion
• Sulphuric acid main storage tank, transfer pump and day tank…for the reactor;
subjected to corrosive concentrated acid
• Boiler with accessories, Fuel storage, Oil firing system, air blower…… essential
to supply steam to reactor and evaporator.
• (Steam is available from exit of back pressure type steam turbine in some plants).
• Thickener (settler and clarifier tanks) with acid resistant lining … subjected to
acidic corrosion
1.3 Brief Description of Some Important Chemical Industries 5

• Filter press with accessories (air compressor)…to recover alum solution from
waste water; subjected to pressurised liquor and acidic corrosion
• Evaporators with SS 316 L or lead steam coils … subjected to acidic corrosion;
• Dispatch section……Weighing and Packing of alum slabs/crushed pieces…

1.3.5 Manufacture of Single Super Phosphate

Rock phosphate is ground to about 100 mesh and mixed with 65–70% sulphuric
acid in a mixer with Ni-hard blades. Gases are evolved with fluorine compounds,
acid mist, CO2 and water vapour due to reaction with sulphuric acid (a small quan-
tity of CaF2 is generally present in rock phosphate).
Some un-reacted particles of rock phosphate also get entrained. The gases are
scrubbed in wet cyclone, venturi scrubber, spray tower and polishing alkali scrubber
(optional). Generally rubber lined induced draft fan is used to suck the gases from
mixers-reactors. The outgoing scrubbing liquor contains silica and H2SiF6 solution.
The silica is taken out from bottom as precipitated material and the acidic solution
is recycled to the mixer-reactor. Reaction material is dropped to a vessel below and
reaction is allowed to continue for a few hours. It is then cured for a few days in the
shed before bagging.
Important units and machines are:
• Storage shed for rock phosphate lumps…large shed subject to dust, movement of
material handling machinery
• Pulveriser/grinder…subjected to big lumps; and can cause dust pollution during
operation (which is controlled by providing cyclone separator, bag filter and
suction fan)
• Bucket elevator, screw feeder
• AR brick lined mixer (reactor) with paddles of special alloy…for main reaction;
subjected to acidic corrosion, erosion due to particles and higher temperature,
• Den Cutter for reacted mass…for continued reaction; subjected to acidic corro-
sion, erosion due to un particles of rock phosphate
• Acidic liquor (H2SiF6) recycle system from scrubbers… subjected to acidic cor-
rosion and erosion due to particles of silica
• Dilution of sulphuric acid and sending to feed tank for mixer (reactor)… sub-
jected to acidic corrosion
• Air pollution control units (scrubbing liquor circulation pumps for ventury
scrubber, spray tower, polishing tower, induced draft fan)… subjected to acidic
corrosion and erosion due to particles of silica and unreacted particles of rock
phosphate
• ID fan…(rubber lined)..subject to erosive particles of silica and acidic gass
• Precipitated Silica removal from APC units…essential to control erosion due to
particles of silica
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beginning with Frederick II., and ends with a proud assertion that he
will speak the whole truth in spite of the powerful barons whom he
may offend. So here, in the Valley of the Princes, where those are
detained who neglected some peculiarly lofty mission, or postponed
their spiritual welfare to worldly and political care, Sordello,
beginning with the Emperor-elect, Rudolph of Hapsburg (Purg. vii.
94), points out the descendants or successors of those whom he had
rebuked in the other life. Here, singing together to the Queen of
Mercy, the deadliest foes sit side by side, consoling each other;
Rudolph of Hapsburg with Ottocar of Bohemia, Charles of Anjou with
Peter of Aragon; a motive found previously in the vision of Tundal,
where, however, the kings are naturally Irish. On Henry of England
Sordello had been more severe when he lived. After sunset, in the
light of three brighter stars, that symbolise the three theological
virtues, Dante has pleasant talk with Nino Visconti and Currado
Malaspina (Purg. viii.). And, as evening closes in, two golden-haired
Angels, green-clad and green-winged, the Angels of Hope with the
flaming but blunted swords of justice tempered with mercy, defend
the noble souls from the assault of an evil serpent. In the literal
sense, this episode (which seems a relic from earlier mediaeval
visions) may imply that souls in Purgatory have not the intrinsic
impossibility of sinning that is possessed by the blessed of Paradise,
but are kept absolutely free from any sin by the Divine Providence. In
the allegorical sense, the meaning clearly is that the way to moral
and intellectual freedom is a hard one, and temptations to fall back in
despair are many. The tempter would draw man back from regaining
the Earthly Paradise, from which he has once caused his expulsion.
The Mystic Eagle and the Gate of Purgatory.—Just before
the dawn Dante dreams of a golden eagle snatching him up to the
sphere of fire, and, waking when the sun is more than two hours
high, finds that Lucia has brought him to the Gate of Purgatory.
Mystically, the eagle seems to represent the poet’s own spirit,
dreaming that he can soar unaided to the very outskirts of Paradise;
but he wakes to realise that Divine grace indicates the preliminary
stage of purification. The gate of St. Peter with its three steps, of
white marble, exactly mirroring the whole man, of darkest purple
cracked in the figure of the Cross, of flaming red porphyry,
represents the Sacrament of Penance with its three parts: Contrition,
Confession, Satisfaction based upon the love of God. The mournfully
robed Angel of Obedience seated on the rock of diamond, with
dazzling face and flashing sword, is the confessor. His silver and
gold keys, of judgment and absolution, open the gate to Dante; the
seven P’s traced by his sword on the poet’s forehead are to be
effaced one by one in his ascent (Purg. ix.).
Moral Topography.—Within the gate is Purgatory proper with its
seven terraces, each devoted to the purgation of one of the seven
capital sins, “out of which other vices spring, especially in the way of
final causation” (Aquinas). Whereas in the Inferno sin was
considered in its manifold and multiform effects, in the Purgatorio it is
regarded in its causes, and all referred to disordered love. The
formal element, the aversion from the imperishable good, which is
the essence of Hell, has been forgiven; the material element, the
conversion to the good that perishes, the disordered love, is now to
be purged from the soul. In the allegorical or moral sense, since
love, as Aquinas says, is “the ultimate cause of the true activities of
every agent,” it is clear that man’s first duty in life is to set love in
order; and, indeed, the whole moral basis of Dante’s Purgatory rests
upon the definition of St. Augustine that virtue is ordo amoris, “the
ordering of love.” In the first three terraces, sins of the spirit are
expiated; in the fourth terrace, sloth, which is both spiritual and
carnal; in the fifth, sixth, seventh terraces, sins of the flesh. This
purgation, which involves both pain of loss for a time and
punishment of sense, is effected by turning with fervent love to God
and detesting what hinders union with Him. Therefore, at the
beginning of each terrace, examples are seen or heard of virtue
contrary to the sin, in order to excite the suffering souls to extirpate
its very roots; and, at the end, examples of its result or punishment
(the “bit and bridle”). These examples are chosen with characteristic
Dantesque impartiality alike from Scripture and legend or mythology;
but, in each case, an example from the life of the Blessed Virgin is
opposed to each capital sin. At the end of each terrace stands an
Angel—personification of one of the virtues opposed to the sins or
vices. These seven Angels in their successive apparitions are
among the divinest things of beauty in the sacred poem. It is only
when sin is completely purged away that man can contemplate the
exceeding beauty, the “awful loveliness” of the contrary virtue.
First Terrace.—Steep and narrow is the path up to the first
terrace, where Pride is purged away (Purg. x). Carved upon the
mountain side are fair white marble images of wondrous beauty,
setting forth great examples of Humility, alike in “them of low degree”
(Mary at the Annunciation) and in “the mighty” (David and Trajan,
rulers respectively of the chosen people of the two dispensations,
the Jews and the Romans). Wearily and painfully the souls of the
proud pass round, pressed down by terrible weights, reciting a
paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, for themselves and those they have
left on earth. And seldom has the Catholic doctrine of prayer for the
dead been more winningly set forth than in Dante’s comment (xi. 31-
36). A partaker in some degree of their punishment, Dante, all
bowed down, goes with these souls; he speaks with Omberto
Aldobrandesco, who is expiating pride of birth, and Oderisi of
Gubbio, the miniaturist, who is purifying his soul from pride of
intellect. The latter points out the great Ghibelline burgher statesman
of Siena, Provenzano Salvani, expiating pride of dominion—the sin
which turned so many an Italian patriot of the Middle Ages into a
tyrant. Figured upon the pavement below their feet are examples of
Pride’s punishment, like the designs on the pavement of the Duomo
of Siena (Purg. xii.). Noon has passed when the Angel of Humility
shows the way up to the next terrace, and with the waving of his
wing removes the first P from Dante’s forehead. “Blessed are the
poor in spirit,” celestial voices sing, as, with almost all weariness
gone since Pride is expiated, Dante ascends the steep way.
Second Terrace.—In the second and narrower circle Envy is
purged. Examples of charity, “courteous invitations to the table of
Love,” are cited by invisible spirits flying past. The envious, clothed
in haircloth, lean helplessly shoulder to shoulder against the rock,
their eyelids sewn up with iron stitching. Sapia of Siena, the
kinswoman of Provenzano Salvani, at whose fall and the defeat of
her countrymen she rejoiced, tells her history in lines of singular
beauty (Purg. xiii.). Guido del Duca denounces the evil dispositions
of the inhabitants of Tuscany, and bewails the degeneracy of the
noble houses with the consequent decay of chivalry in his own
province of Romagna; envious on earth of prosperity of others, these
souls mourn now for its decline (xiv.). Like peals of thunder the cries
of spirits follow each other in citing Envy’s punishment. As they go
towards the sunset, the dazzling Angel of Fraternal Love removes
the mark of Envy. “Blessed are the merciful,” “Rejoice thou that
conquerest.” As they mount Virgil expounds the difference between
material goods, which are diminished by sharing and beget envy,
and the infinite good of Paradise, where love increases with every
soul that enters into the joy of the Lord, and its communication is
measured only by the charity of each soul that is made its mirror
(Purg. xv.).
Third Terrace.—On reaching the third terrace where Anger is
purged, Dante sees examples of meekness and forgiveness in
vision. From the black, pungent, and tormenting smoke which
envelopes the souls of the once wrathful, who now call upon the
Lamb of God for peace and mercy, the Lombard Marco reconciles
Free Will with stellar influence, and ascribes the evil condition of Italy
and the world to the neglect of law, the confusion of the spiritual and
temporal power, and the papal usurpation of imperial rights (Purg.
xvi.). In this terrace Dante again partakes of the pains of the penitent
souls. As the sun is setting, he issues from the dark mist. A most
significant passage on the power of the imagination to form images
not derived from the senses (xvii. 13-18) introduces the visions of
Anger’s punishment, from which the poet is roused by the dazzling
splendour of the Angel of Peace or Meekness, who fans away the
third P and shows the way up: “Blessed are the peacemakers who
are without evil wrath.”
Fourth Terrace.—The stars are appearing as they reach the
fourth terrace, where souls are purged from Sloth. We saw that, in
the Inferno, the Aristotelian division of things to be morally shunned
was discussed, and the ethical structure of the first canticle
expounded, in the circle intermediate between Incontinence and
Malice (Inf. xi.); so, in the Purgatorio, a compulsory pause in the
terrace intermediate between sins of spirit and sins of flesh is
selected by Virgil for his great discourse upon Love, on which is
based the moral system of the second realm (Purg. xvii. 91-139,
xviii. 13-75). It is practically a sermon on the text of Jacopone da
Todi, Ordena questo amore, tu che m’ami, “Set this love in order,
thou that lovest me”; since in rational beings disordered love
produces the seven capital vices. Pride, Envy, Anger are regarded
as distorted love; Sloth as defective love; Avarice, Gluttony, Luxury
as excessive love. Love is the golden net whereby God draws back
to Himself all creatures that He has made, whether inanimate,
sensitive, or rational—by the tendencies or inclinations He has given
them to make them seek the end for which they are ordered and
disposed, according to the Eternal Law. Rational beings alone have
Free Will, by which man merits or demerits from the Divine Justice,
according as he inclines to good or evil loves. Love’s tendency to
good is the precious material upon which Free Will acts like the
craftsman’s hand, to fashion a satyr’s mask or a crucifix.
At the end of this discourse, the slothful rush by at full speed in the
moonlight, so full of longing to lose no time through too little love,
that the Abbot of San Zeno cannot stop while he answers Virgil’s
question; those in front cry out examples of alacrity in Mary and
Caesar; those behind chant Sloth’s punishment in the chosen people
of the Old Testament and the Trojan ancestors of the Romans.
The Siren and the Angel of Zeal.—Before the dawn of the third
day in Purgatory, Dante has in his sleep a marvellous dream of the
Siren (sensual seduction, concupiscence of the flesh), from which he
is delivered by a holy and alert lady who calls upon Virgil (prevenient
grace, or the wisdom and prudence of Proverbs vii.). The Siren is the
dream-prelude to the purgation of sins of the flesh, as the Eagle had
been to that of sins of the spirit. The sun has risen; and the Angel of
Zeal (or of Spiritual Joy) cancels the fourth P and shows the way up
to the next terrace. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have
their souls wed to consolation.” Sloth is a heaviness and sadness
which weighs down the soul, a sadness at spiritual good, to be
fought by thinking on spiritual things. Most fitly then do the wings of
the Angel of Zeal point upwards, and his words tell of a nobler
sorrow, a mourning which shall be followed by Divine consolation
(Purg. xix.).
Fifth Terrace.—In the fifth terrace, the avaricious and prodigal,
whose souls on earth cleaved to the dust, lie face downwards to
earth; unable to move hand or foot until the sin of Covetousness is
purged away, the sin which, according to Aquinas, “although not
absolutely the greatest of sins, yet has in some sense a greater
deformity than the rest, since by it the human heart is subjected even
to external things.” Pope Adrian V. tells the story of his tardy
conversion, and has tender words for his niece Alagia, the wife of
Moroello Malaspina (Purg. xix.). It is a companion episode to that of
Nicholas III. in the corresponding canto of the Inferno. In this circle
the souls themselves cry out the examples and warnings, by day and
night respectively. The soul of Hugh Capet, “the root of the evil plant
which overshadows all the Christian earth,” pours forth bitter
sarcasm and scathing invective upon all the royal house of France,
the great Guelf power that opposed the Empire, oppressed Italy, and
wrought scandal in the Church. A monument of poetic infamy is
especially raised to Philip the Fair and the three Carlos; and there
are few more glorious examples of Christian magnanimity than the
burning words in which Dante, distinguishing the man from the office,
brands the sacrilege of Anagni, the outrage committed upon him
whom the poet held as his own deadliest foe, and yet the unworthy
Vicar of Christ. Nowhere else, save in the reference to the Jubilee
(Purg. ii. 98, 99), does Dante treat Boniface as lawful pope (cf. Inf.
xix. 52-57; Par. ix. 142, xxvii. 22-24). It has been thought that Canto
xx. was composed while the Church was ostensibly supporting the
policy of Henry VII.; before attacking the Templars, the French king
had endeavoured to renew the outrage of Anagni by inducing Pope
Clement to condemn the memory of Boniface. With a mighty
earthquake, a universal chorus of Gloria in excelsis from the
suffering souls, the poet Statius is liberated, and joins Dante and
Virgil (Purg. xxi.). He explains how the pains of Purgatory are
voluntarily endured, since, against the hypothetic or absolute will
with which they desire the bliss of Paradise, the souls suffer these
purifying pains with the conditional or actual will, the same inclination
or impulse or desire (talento) which they formerly had to sin. Thus it
is free will itself that imposes the purgatorial process, and that alone
shows the soul when purification is complete. The delicious scene of
the recognition of Virgil by Statius is full of that peculiarly tender
Dantesque playfulness that informs the two Eclogues; Dante’s
affectionate humour in dealing with those he loved is one of the most
attractive aspects of his character, and one perhaps too often
missed.
Sixth Terrace.—The Angel of Justice has removed the fifth P
from Dante’s forehead, opposing in his song the thirst of justice to
that of gain. As they mount, Statius explains to Virgil how he was
converted from prodigality by a line in the Aeneid, and led to
Christianity by the fourth Eclogue (Purg. xxii.). The conversion of a
pagan to Christianity through reading Virgil occurs in a story told by
Vincent of Beauvais; Dante was probably influenced in applying this
to Statius, representing him as a secret convert to the true faith, by
his study of the Thebaid; for there, in the last book, Statius describes
the Altar of Mercy at Athens in language which harmonises with the
words of Christ in the Gospels and the address of his own
contemporary, St. Paul, to the Athenians in the Acts. The poets
pursue their way with greater confidence now that Statius is with
them, and reach the sixth terrace, where unseen spirits cry out
examples of temperance from the tree beneath which drunkenness
and gluttony are purged. The spirits, terribly wasted, suffer intense
torments of hunger and thirst in the presence of most tempting food
and drink; but the sanctifying pain is a solace, desired even as Christ
willed to die for man. With the soul of Forese Donati, Dante holds
loving converse; the memory of their dissolute lives together is still
grievous; the poet makes amends for his old slander of Forese’s wife
Nella, by the tender lines now placed upon her husband’s lips (Purg.
xxiii. 85-93). Forese darkly foretells the death of Corso Donati, which
appears to be the latest event in Florentine history mentioned in the
poem (xxiv. 82-90). Whatever the friendship of these two had been
on earth, it was fair and lovely indeed on the Mount of Purgation.
Amongst many others are Pope Martin IV. and the poet
Bonagiunta of Lucca, whose talk with Dante upon the dolce stil
nuovo, the “sweet new style,” is one of the landmarks for the student
of poetry (Purg. xxiv. 49-60). Dante’s famous definition of his own
position expresses, in another form, the truth that all great poetry is
the “transfigured life” of its author:[35] “I am one who, when Love
inspires me, note, and give utterance in that fashion which he
dictates within.” It is already anticipated in the prose passage
prefixed to the Donne che avete in the Vita Nuova (xix.), and
completes the conception of poetry set forth in the De Vulgari
Eloquentia.
The Seventh Terrace.—Passing another tree, a shoot from the
tree of knowledge, beneath which the purging pangs are renewed,
and from whose branches spirit voices proclaim examples of
gluttony’s punishment, they are summoned upwards by the glowing
and dazzling Angel of Abstinence, fragrant with grass and flowers as
the air of May. As they ascend the narrow stairs towards the last
terrace, Statius explains the generation of the body and the infusion
of the rational soul, which exists, after the body’s death, invested
with an aerial body as a shade (Purg. xxv. 31 et seq.). Apparently it
is because revelation has some voice in these high matters that the
Christian Statius gives Dante this exposition, instead of Virgil, and at
the latter’s request; until the seventh terrace is reached, where
sensual passion is expiated in the bosom of the great burning.
Singing to the God of Supreme Clemency, crying aloud examples of
chastity or of lust’s punishment, two bands of souls, divided
according to the nature of their sin, pass through the fire in opposite
ways (Purg. xxvi.). Here is Guido Guinizelli of Bologna, father of the
poets of the dolce stil nuovo, whom Dante gazes upon in rapt
admiration, and addresses with impassioned love and worship. But
Guinizelli—with that humility which is so characteristically Dante’s
own—indicates as miglior fabbro del parlar materno, a “better
craftsman of his mother-tongue,” Arnaut Daniel, the cunning
Provençal song-smith, who invented the sestina, and whose metrical
skill and originality won for him a higher place in the estimation of the
poet of the rime pietrose than modern students of the troubadours
are usually disposed to concede.
The Purging Fire.—At sunset the Angel of Purity, singing
“Blessed are the clean of heart,” bids the poets pass through the
flames that lie between them and the last stairway—the purging fire
that is the wall between Dante and Beatrice. Dante endures the
“burning without measure”; and they reach the ascent, greeted by
dazzling light and celestial strains of Venite benedicti Patris mei. The
Cherubims with the flaming sword, “turning every way to keep the
way of the tree of life” (Gen. iii. 24), are thus welcoming man’s
restoration to the Garden of Eden, as the serpent had endeavoured
to impede it in the Valley of the Princes. Now it is a delight to mount;
but night comes on, and Dante, watched over by Statius and Virgil,
falls asleep on the stairs (Purg. xxvii.).
Leah and Liberty.—Just before dawn, prelude to the new day, he
dreams of Leah, a young and lovely lady gathering flowers in a
meadow. The theologians took Leah as type of the active life, and
Rachel, her sister, of the contemplative; a symbolism to which
Richard of St. Victor gave a more mystical colour, by interpreting
Leah as “affection inflamed by divine inspiration, composing itself to
the norm of justice.” Leah may then represent the affection, thus
inflamed and ordered, which is the perfection of the active life. At
sunrise the topmost stair of Purgatory is reached, and Virgil, who can
himself discern no further, resigns his guidance at the entrance to
the Garden of Eden. Dante’s judgment has been made free, right,
and whole; per ch’ io te sovra te corono e mitrio, “wherefore I crown
and mitre thee over thyself” (xxvii. 142). It has been supposed that
Virgil is here resigning to Dante the crown and mitre of the Emperor;
mitratus et coronatus was the expression used for the coronation of
an Emperor when the Pope placed upon his head a mitre and a
crown, which afterwards were united in the mitred crown, as seen in
the great fresco at Santa Maria Novella. Others refer the crown to
temporal or imperial authority, and the mitre to spiritual or
ecclesiastical; for (Mon. iii. 4) “if man had remained in the state of
innocence in which he was made by God, he would have had no
need of such directive regimens,” which are “remedial against the
infirmity of sin.” Dante, purified from sin, has regained this state of
innocence, and has attained that liberty through which “we have our
felicity here as men and our felicity elsewhere as Gods” (Mon. i. 12).
In any case, Virgil is confirming the freedom which Dante has sought
and gained by the passage through Purgatory.
The Earthly Paradise and Matelda.—The Earthly Paradise
represents “blessedness of this life, which consists in the exercise of
man’s natural powers” (Mon. iii. 16). This blessedness is found in the
twofold exercise of the mind: the practical, which “consists in
ourselves working virtuously, that is, in integrity, with prudence, with
temperance, with fortitude, and with justice”; and the speculative,
which consists “in considering the works of God and of nature”
(Conv. iv. 22). In this Earthly Paradise, the music of whose birds and
trees has surely passed into the wonderful six cantos that close the
Purgatorio, Dante meets, amidst the flowers on Lethe’s banks, the
glorified realisation of the Leah of his dream (Purg. xxviii.). She has
been taken as symbolising the glorified active life in the state of
recovered Eden, realising in the Church of Christ what Leah had
dimly prefigured in the Old Testament; the active Christian life;
innocentia bonorum operum, the virtuous use of earthly things,
directly ordered to the love of our neighbour; the temporal felicity of
the Earthly Paradise. Since the purgatorial process is the freeing of
the soul from disordered love, we may follow Richard’s interpretation
of Leah, and take her as representing love rightly ordered and
inflamed by divine inspiration. Presently she is called Matelda (xxxiii.
119), and it is probable that she is the idealised presentment of a
real person. All the earliest commentators, excepting the Ottimo,
identify her with the great Countess of Tuscany, in support of which
view might be urged the historical work of the Countess in the revival
of the study of Roman Law at Bologna—Roman Law being, for
Dante, the secular counterpart of the “perfect law of liberty.” Some
modern commentators prefer to seek her prototype in one or other of
the ladies of Vita Nuova; for instance, in that lady of very sweet
speech who had rebuked Dante at the crisis of his “new life.” Others
have attempted to identify her with Mechthild of Magdeburg or
Mechthild of Hackeborn, two German mystical writers of the latter
part of the thirteenth century whose works show occasional
analogies with the Commedia. It may be observed that her
counterpart, as Rachel to Leah, is not Beatrice, as sometimes
supposed, but St. Bernard, in the closing cantos of the Paradiso.
Matelda explains her joyous aspect by referring Dante to the Psalm
Delectasti (Ps. 92, 91 Vulgate), and her discourse of Eden and its
rivers (realising the Golden Age sung by the classical poets)
communicates to Virgil and Statius her own celestial joy: “Thou has
given me, O Lord, a delight in what Thou hast made: in the works of
Thy hands I shall rejoice.” She points out to Dante’s gaze the
wondrous pageant, which astonishes Virgil as much as his pupil, the
mystical procession that represents the triumphal march of the
Church (Purg. xxix.).
The Pageant of the Church.—With brilliant light and ineffable
melody, the triumph advances: “I saw the holy city, the new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. xxi. 2). Headed by seven
candlesticks of gold as standards, followed by the twenty-four elders,
white-robed and crowned with lilies, singing Mary’s praises; between
the four living creatures of Ezekiel and St. John, crowned with green,
comes a triumphal chariot, more glorious than the sun, upon two
wheels; drawn by a Griffin, half lion and half eagle, whose golden
wings stretch up far out of sight, through the seven luminous bands
that form the processional canopy. By the right wheel dance three
maidens, symbolic of the theological virtues; by the left wheel dance
four, who represent the cardinal virtues, following the measure of
Prudence, as the others take their step from the song of Charity. The
seven candlesticks are the gifts of the Holy Spirit; the twenty-four
elders, either the patriarchs and prophets, or the books of the Old
Testament; the four living creatures, the four Evangelists, or their
four Gospels; the Griffin, Christ Himself in His Human and Divine
Natures. Lastly, follow seven more elders, white-robed but crowned
with flaming red flowers; a physician, and one with shining sword;
four of humble appearance; an old man “sleeping with face alert.”
According to Benvenuto da Imola, these represent St. Peter (who
had intrusted to him the power of healing souls) and St. Paul, the
four great Latin doctors, and St. Bernard. More usually they are
regarded as personifying the books of the New Testament—the Acts,
St. Paul’s Epistles, the Epistles of St. Peter, James, John, and Jude,
the Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John. Upon the chariot, amidst a
hundred Angels singing and scattering flowers, Beatrice appears,
clad in the mystical colours, red, white, green, crowned with the olive
of wisdom and of peace over her snow-white veil. And, at the advent
of the Wisdom divinely revealed to man, Virgil silently vanishes; he
has tasted of the delights of the Earthly Paradise, has witnessed the
triumph of the Church from which he is for ever cut off, the Faith he
never knew, and has gone back to his mournful dwelling-place (Purg.
xxx.).
Beatrice and Dante.—The precise significance of the
reproaches which Beatrice pours upon Dante for his mode of life
after her death, with the poet’s own bitter shame and intense
repentance (xxx., xxxi.), depends upon the view taken of his
character and the nature of the wanderings represented in the dark
wood. That these aberrations were mainly philosophical and
intellectual, as sometimes supposed, appears highly improbable. We
would regard Dante’s confession here as one of his most personal
utterances, and hold that the cherubically inspired singer of
righteousness is deliberately casting aside the allegorical veil which,
in the Convivio, he had attempted to throw over the things in the past
which still severed him from the ideal life when he wrote: “I fear the
infamy of having followed such great passion.” It is a personal
episode, in which Beatrice is the woman loved and to whose
memory the poet has been unfaithful, standing out clearly from the
allegorical mystery by which it is surrounded and in which it is set.
After Matelda has drawn Dante through Lethe, the four cardinal
virtues, which “perfect the intellect and appetite of man according to
the capacity of human nature,” lead him to the breast of the mystic
Griffin; and, in response to the song of the three theological virtues,
which perfect man supernaturally, Beatrice at last unveils her
countenance to his gaze: “O splendour of living light eternal.”
Concluding Allegories of the “Purgatorio.”—The allegory is
resumed. In the light of this revelation, now that he is purified and
free from sin, Dante beholds a vision of the Church and Empire
(Purg. xxxii.). That glorious procession had first presented an ideal of
the Church as Divine Providence intended it to be, before it became
the vessel that the serpent of simony broke; the Bride that the Divine
Spouse ordained for the guidance of the world. Such being the ideal,
Dante beholds in a series of allegorical visions its history, in
conjunction with the Empire, from the first coming to Rome down to
the transference of the papal chair to Avignon. The great procession
moves on through the divine forest, the Griffin still drawing the
chariot with Beatrice seated upon it; Matelda with Dante and Statius
following after the right wheel. Even as the divine origin of the
Church has been seen in the triumphal car, so now the divine origin
of the Empire is indicated in the desolate and despoiled tree which
they reach. The tree of knowledge of good and evil, since the
prohibition to eat of that tree was the beginning of law and the duty
of obedience, represents Natural Law or Natural Justice, what Dante
calls ius; which “in things is nought else than the similitude of the
divine will” (Mon. ii. 2). The expression of this natural justice and the
means for its effectuation in human society is Law, which Dante
identifies with the Empire, and thus the tree becomes the symbol of
the Empire and of the obedience due to it. The tree is destitute of
flowers and foliage till the Griffin comes to it, who plucks nothing
from it: “Thus is preserved the seed of all justice” (Purg. xxxii. 48; cf.
our Lord’s words to St. John, Matt. iii. 15). Justice can alone be
fulfilled when the Church follows this example of her Divine Founder,
and usurps none of the temporal rights of the Empire. After the
chariot has been bound to the tree, the previously bare plant breaks
out into purple leaves and flowers. The Griffin and his train return to
Heaven, leaving Beatrice to guard the chariot of the Church, seated
beneath the shadow of the Imperial Tree, upon its root, which is
Rome. In a new series of visions Dante beholds the sequel; he sees
the conflict of the past, contemplates the corruption of the present,
hearkens to the hope of the future. The persecution of the Church by
the early Roman Emperors is followed by the inroad of the first
heresies; and the donation of Constantine by the rising of the dragon
of schism or simony. By more assumption of secular power and
dignities, the chariot becomes monstrously transformed, and
shamelessly usurped by the harlot, who represents the corrupt
ecclesiastical authority enthroned in the place of Revelation, a false
and degraded theology based upon the Decretals instead of the true
divine science of the Scripture and the Fathers. By her side a giant
appears who, after alternate caressing and scourging of the usurper,
unbinds the transfigured chariot from the tree, and drags it away
through the forest—symbolical of the interference of the royal house
of France, ending in the transference of the Papacy from Rome to
Avignon.
A Deliverer Announced.—But to the mournful psalm that the
maidens around her raise, Deus venerunt gentes, Beatrice answers
in words of hope; “a little while,” and the spiritual guide shall rise
again from the black tomb of Avignon. And, as they move on, she
utters to Dante a further prophecy (Purg. xxxiii.). “The vessel that the
serpent broke was and is not,” so completely has corruption and
simony degraded the chariot of the Bride of Christ. But vengeance
shall fall upon the guilty parties, and the eagle shall not for ever be
without an heir; for already a favourable disposition of the stars is at
hand, under which a messenger of God shall come, who shall slay
the harlot and the giant. It is probably the same event as the coming
of the Veltro. Dante is to repeat her words “to those that live the life
which is a running to death,” and not to conceal what he has seen of
the tree. Apparently (Purg. xxxiii. 58-72) he is to make manifest that
the Empire is of divine origin, and to recognise that the precept given
by God to our first parents corresponds now with the duty and
obedience man owes to the Empire. The law under which Adam
lived was the prohibition to eat of the tree; the law under which his
descendants, the commonwealth of the human race, live is the
Empire. As Parodi puts it, it is not a new sense superimposed upon
the first; “it is simply the same single meaning, the historical
circumstances alone appearing changed.” The sin of Adam is
repeated when the Empire is usurped of its rights or its authority
attacked, for God created it holy for the purpose of leading man to
temporal felicity—the goal, here and now, of the human race.[36]
Lethe and Eunoë.—At noon they come to where the rivers of
Lethe and Eunoë issue from one mystical fountain, the fountain of
the grace of God. Here Beatrice refers Dante to Matelda, who leads
him and Statius to drink of Eunoë, which quickens dead virtue and
restores memory of every good deed in those who have first been
bathed in Lethe, which takes away the memory of sin. According to
St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa, iii. 89, 5), works done in charity,
although in a sense dead through sin, are brought to life through
penance. Through repentance they regain their efficacy of leading
him who did them into eternal life. Therefore Dante writes: “I returned
from the most holy stream, remade even as young trees renewed
with new foliage, pure and disposed to ascend to the stars.”

4. The “Paradiso”
Structure.—Dante’s Paradise consists of the nine moving
heavens, according to Ptolemaic astronomy, crowned by the tenth
motionless and divinest Empyrean heaven, “according to what Holy
Church teacheth, who cannot lie” (Conv. ii. 3, 4). The nine moving
spheres revolve round our globe, the fixed centre of the Universe,
each of the lower eight being enclosed in the sphere above itself.
The seven lowest are the heavens of the planets: the Moon,
Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The eighth or stellar
heaven, the sphere of the Fixed Stars or Firmament, is the highest
visible region of the celestial world, and to some extent corresponds
to the Earthly Paradise in the lower realms. Above this visible
firmament, the ninth or Crystalline heaven, the Primum Mobile,
directs with its movements the daily revolution of all the others. In it
nature starts; from it proceed time and motion, with all celestial
influence for the government of the world (Par. xxvii. 106-120). It is
“the royal mantle of all the volumes of the world, which is most
fervent and most living in God’s breath, and in His ways” (Par. xxiii.
112-114); and it communicates in different degrees some
participation in this quickening breath of God to the other sphere
which it encloses, and to all the Universe. It moves swiftest of all,
from the fervent desire of all its parts to be united to the Empyrean,
the spaceless and motionless ocean of Divine love, where God
beatifies the saints and Angels in the vision of His Essence. This
Empyrean is the true intellectual Paradise, for which the lower
heavens are merely sensible preparations. “This is the sovereign
edifice of the world, in which all the world is included, and outside of
which is nothing; and it is not in space, but was formed only in the
First Mind” (Conv. ii. 4); “The heaven that is pure light; light
intellectual full of love, love of true good full of joy, joy that
transcendeth every sweetness” (Par. xxx. 39-42).
Gradations.—Each of the nine lower spheres represents a step
higher in knowledge, in love, in blessedness, until in the true
Paradise the soul attains to perfect knowledge, supreme love, and
infinite blessedness in union with the First Cause, in the Beatific
Vision of the Divine Essence. The ascent is marked by the increased
loveliness of Beatrice, as she guides Dante upwards from heaven to
heaven; it is marked, too, by gradations in the brilliancy of the
blessed spirits themselves, by their ever increasing ardour of charity
towards the poet, and by the growing spirituality of the matters
discussed in each sphere—veil after veil being drawn aside from the
mysteries of the Divine treasure-house.
The Saints.—“To show forth the glory of beatitude in those souls,”
says the letter to Can Grande, “from them, as from those who see all
truth, many things will be sought which have great utility and delight”
(Epist. x. 33). All the saints without exception have their home and
glorious seats with Mary and the Angels in that Empyrean heaven,
where they are finally seen as glorified spirit likenesses of what they
were on earth. But into each preparatory sphere, excepting the ninth,
these citizens of eternal life descend to meet Dante as, with
Beatrice, he approaches the gates of the celestial city—like the
noble soul returning home to God in the fourth and last part of life:
“And even as its citizens come forth to meet him who returns from
a long journey, before he enters the gate of the city, so to the noble
soul come forth, as is fitting, those citizens of eternal life. And thus
they do because of her good works and contemplations; for, being
now rendered to God and abstracted from worldly things and
thoughts, she seems to see those whom she believes to be with
God” (Conv. iv. 28).
In all these spheres, excepting the first, and to some extent the
second, the spirits of the blessed appear clothed in dazzling light,
which hides their proper semblances from Dante’s gaze, making
them appear as brilliant stars or flaming splendours. In the tenth
Heaven of Heavens he is supernaturally illumined, and enabled
thereby to behold them in their glorified spirit forms “with
countenance unveiled” (Par. xxii. 60, xxx. 96, xxxi. 49).
In the three lower heavens, to which earth’s shadow was
supposed to extend (Par. ix. 118, 119), appear the souls whose lives
were marred by inconstancy in their vows, who were moved by vain
glory, or yielded to sensual love. They descend into these lower
spheres to give Dante a sensible sign of the lesser degree of the
perfection of their beatitude in the Empyrean. Domus est una, sed
diversitas est ibi mansionum; “The house is one, but there is a
diversity of mansions there.” There are different mansions of
beatitude in God’s house, proceeding from inequality in the soul’s
capacity of the Divine Charity; but in that house all are fulfilled with
the Vision of the Divine Essence, and each perfectly beatified
according to his own capacity of love and knowledge. In the spheres
of the four higher planets appear the souls of great teachers and
doctors, of Jewish warriors and Christian knights, of just rulers, of
ascetic monks and hermits; they appear as types of lives perfected
in action or in contemplation, as a sign of the different ways in which
perfection may be reached on earth and beatitude attained in
Paradise. These successive manifestations in the seven spheres of
the planets obviate what might otherwise have proved the monotony
of a single heaven, and suggest that, although each soul partakes
supremely according to its individual capacity of the Beatific Vision,
which is essentially one and the same in all, yet there are not only
grades but subtle differences in the possession of it, in which the life
on earth was a factor. In the eighth, the Stellar Heaven, still under
sensible figures and allegorical veils, Dante sees “the host of the
triumph of Christ, and all the fruit gathered by the circling of these
spheres” (Par. xxiii. 19-21), representing the Church in which these
various modes and degrees of life are brought into unison. In the
ninth, the Crystalline, the angelic hierarchies are manifested with
imagery symbolical of their office towards God and man,
representing the principle of Divine Order, the overruling and
disposition of Divine Providence in which the celestial intelligences
are the agents and instruments. The Empyrean Heaven depicts the
soul in patria, with all the capacities of love and knowledge
actualised in the fruition of the Ultimate Reality, the supreme and
universal truth which is the object of the understanding, the supreme
and universal good which is the object of the will.
The Angels.—Each of the nine moving spheres is assigned to the
care of one of the nine angelic orders: Angels, Archangels,
Principalities; Powers, Virtues, Dominations; Thrones, Cherubim,
Seraphim. And the character of the blessed spirits that appear to
Dante in each heaven, and the subjects discussed, seem in almost
every case to correspond more or less closely with the functions
assigned by mystical theologians, especially Dionysius, St. Gregory
and St. Bernard, to the special angelic order which presides over the
sphere in question. There are two fundamental principles in the life
of the soul: nature and grace. The one is represented in the Paradiso
by the astronomical order of the heavens and their influence upon
individual disposition, furnishing man with a natural aptitude for the
moral and intellectual virtues; the other by the bounty of Divine
Grace, which reveals itself in the perfecting of the natural and the
infusion of the supernatural virtues, whereby souls become
assimilated to the angelic orders.[37] It is through these Angels (the
name is applied generally to all, as well as to the lowest order) that
God disposes the visible world; in the hands of the celestial
intelligences the heavens are as hammers, to stamp the Divine ideas
upon material creation and carry out the Divine plan in the
government of the Universe (cf. Par. ii. 127-129). And, by means of
the influence of the stars, these Angels have impressed certain men
with their own characteristics; perhaps to fill up the vacant places in
their ranks left by the fall of Lucifer’s followers, certainly to co-
operate on earth in their work. Dante himself was born beneath the
constellation of the Gemini, the glorious stars impregnated with the
virtue of the Cherubim who rule the eighth sphere (Par. xxii. 112-
123). The Cherubim represent the Divine Wisdom; their name
signifies plenitude of knowledge. According to St. Bernard, they
“draw from the very fountain of wisdom, the mouth of the Most High,
and pour out the streams of knowledge upon all His citizens.” Their
special prerogatives are fullness of Divine light, and contemplation of
the beauty of the Divine order of things; they see most into the
profound mysteries of the hidden things of God, and spread the
knowledge of Him upon all beneath them. By their inspiration Dante
co-operated in this cherubical work by writing the Divina Commedia.
The Seraphim especially represent the Divine Love. No soul appears
in the ninth heaven which they guide and in which the angelic
hierarchies are manifested; Beatrice is the sole interpreter between
the poet and the Angels, as she had been the revealer to him on
earth of Love’s “possible divinities and celestial prophecies.”
Time in Paradise.—The action of the Paradiso begins at noon,
immediately after Dante’s return from Eunoë; that is, noon on
Wednesday in Easter week in the Earthly Paradise and (the
following) midnight at Jerusalem (Par. i. 37-45). The time-references
in this third Cantica are rather doubtful (Par. xxii. 151-153, xxvii. 77-
87), but it seems probable that Dante takes twenty-four hours to
ascend through the nine material heavens to the Empyrean, which is
beyond time and space, where “the natural law in nought is relevant”
(Par. xxx. 123). When Dante woke from his “mighty trance” to the
“sound of the importunate earth,” it was perhaps about dawn on the
morning of Friday in Easter week in our world, thus completing the
seven days of his ecstatic pilgrimage, which had begun at about the
same hour on Good Friday.
Canto I.—In a lyrical prologue of stately music (Par. i. 1-36), the
poet sings of the glory of the First Mover, and prays for light and
inspiration to complete this third most arduous portion of his divine
poem. Then, in the noblest season of the year and noblest hour of
the day, as Beatrice gazes upon the sun and Dante upon her, his
mind becomes godlike, and he ascends to Heaven swifter than
lightning. To explain his ascent, Beatrice discourses upon the form
and order of God’s visible image, the Universe; and on His Eternal
Law, the sovereign plan of government existing in the Divine Mind, to
which all movements and actions of nature are subject (ibid. 103-
141). To all created things God has given an instinct, or principle of
inclination, by which, in different ways according to their nature, He
draws them all back to Himself over the great sea of being. Rational
beings alone can resist the order of the Universe and defeat the
Eternal Law by sin, which is expiated by temporary or eternal
suffering, as Dante has seen in the lower realms; but the purified
soul, in accordance with this order and law, inevitably mounts up to
find its rest in union with the First Cause. It is the doctrine of spiritual
gravitation (derived from St. Augustine), according to which the soul
is moved by love as bodies are by their weight, and all things find
their rest in order.
The Heaven of the Moon.—They are received into the eternal
pearl of the Moon (Par. ii.); where Beatrice first confutes Dante’s
former theory concerning the luminous substance of the celestial
bodies, and, by explaining how everything in the visible world
depends upon the angelic movers of the sphere, gives a mystical
interpretation of a natural phenomenon, on this first step of his
ascent to the suprasensible. Within this eternal pearl appear faint but
divinely beautiful forms of women; the souls of those who had
yielded to violence and broken their solemn vow (Par. iii.). Piccarda
Donati, sister of Corso and Forese, sets forth the perfection of
celestial charity, where all wills are made absolutely one with the will
of God, who has awarded different degrees or mansions of beatitude
to all His chosen ones:

E la sua volontade è nostra pace,

“And His will is our peace.”[38] Transfigured now with ineffable joy,
Piccarda tells the pathetic story of her frustrated life on earth; and
points out to Dante the Empress Constance, mother of Frederick II.,
torn, like her, from the convent’s shelter. Beatrice explains to the
poet the place of all the saints in the Empyrean—the “heaven of
humility where Mary is,” as Dante had sung long before of Beatrice
herself in the Vita Nuova—and the reason of this temporary
apparition in the moon (Par. iv.). The other questions solved in this
sphere are all connected with Free Will. Rectitude of will is
necessary for the gaining of Paradise, and nothing whatever can
take away that freedom of the will. “As regards the proper act of the
will, no violence can be done to the will”; and, since Piccarda and
Constance yielded through fear of greater evil, they fell voluntarily
from the state of perfection to which they were called. Freedom of
the will is God’s greatest gift to man (Par. v. 19-24); hence the
sanctity of an accepted vow, wherein this supreme gift is offered to
God as victim, although Holy Church has power to commute, save,

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