!"#$

!
$
%
%&
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

1
 LECTURE 1: THE DESIGN PROCESS

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

2
 '() 
ã


 
 






- De knowledgeable about the kinds of design decisions

that challenge process design teams.
- Have an appreciation of the key steps in carrying out a
process design. This course, as the course text, is
organized to teach how to implement these steps.
- De aware of the many kinds of environmental issues and
safety considerations that are prevalent in the design of a
new chemical process.
- Understand that chemical engineers use a blend of hand
calculations, spreadsheets, computer packages, and
process simulators to design a process.

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

3
  ! 
·Primitive Design Problems
å

·þteps in Designing and Retrofitting Chemical Processes
å
   

å
  
å 

 
 
å 

  
 
  

å
    
 
å 


 


    
ã    
å   
 

ã  
·?nvironmental Protection
·þafety Considerations
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

4
  &  ! (&

‡ The design or retrofit of chemical processes begins with the desire

to produce profitably chemicals that satisfy societal needs that
arise in the broad spectrum of industries that employ chemical
engineers:
± petrochemicals, ± polymers
± petroleum products ± coatings
± industrial gases
± electronic materials
± foods
± pharmaceuticals
± bio-chemicals

‡ Partly due to the growing awareness of the public,

many design projects involve the redesign, or
`
`

, of existing chemical processes to solve
environmental problems and to adhere to stricter
 
 standards ofPolymer
Department of safety& Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

5
 '  ! (&

‡ Often, design problems result from the explorations of

chemists, biochemists, and engineers in research labs to satisfy
the desires of customers to obtain chemicals with improved
properties for many applications
‡ However, several well-known products, like Teflon (poly-
tetrafluoroethylene), were discovered by accident.
‡ In other cases, an inexpensive source of a raw material(s)
becomes available
‡ Other design problems originate when new markets are
discovered, especially in developing countries
‡ Yet another source of design projects is the engineer himself,
who often has a strong inclination that a new chemical or route
to produce an existing chemical can be very profitable.
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

6
 *  &  ! (&

  



  
 
 
 

! 







! !


  
   

  


"

#
 
 
 

  

"
 


 

 




$%%
  
 

 


  





&
 


 




 
" 



 

   
 

 

 
 
  '


 







 


 
 

"

    



 

  

   
 

 


   '(
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

7
 "* ! 


   



 

 " 

  
  



    


  

    


 



  
 

 '


    

    
  

ã    

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

8
 "* ! 


   



 

 " 

  
  



    


  

    


 



  
 

 '


    

    
  

ã    

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

9
 "* ! 

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

10
  &  (&
‡ Process design begins with a primitive design problem that expresses the
˜ `` 



and provides an  `


to satisfy a societal need.
‡ Normally, the primitive problem is examined by a small design team, who
begins to assess its possibilities, to refine the problem statement, and to
generate more specific problems:
± Raw materials - available in-house, can be purchased or need to be
manufactured?
± Scale of the process (based upon a preliminary assessment of the
current production, projected market demand, and current and
projected selling prices)
± Location for the plant
‡ Refined through meetings with engineering technical management,
business and marketing.
‡ `

` to generate alternatives

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

11
 +&*,-|%..

To satisfy the need for an additional 800 MMlb/yr of VCM, the

following plausible alternatives might be generated:
Alternative 1. A competitor¶s plant, which produces 2 MMM lb/yr of VCM
and is located about 100 miles away, might be expanded to produce the
required amount, which would be shipped. In this case, the design team
projects the purchase price and designs storage facilities.
Alternative 2. Purchase and ship, by pipeline from a nearby plant, chlorine
from the electrolysis of NaCl solution. React the chlorine with ethylene to
produce the monomer and HCl as a byproduct.
Alternative 3. Since the existing company produces HCl as a byproduct in
large quantities are produced, HCl is normally available at low prices.
Reactions of HCl with acetylene, or ethylene and oxygen, could produce 1,2-
dichloroethane, an intermediate that can be cracked to produce vinyl chloride.

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

12
 ". ."./

0.. .

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

13
 "* ! 

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

14
  &#. ! 

Handling of toxic wastes

± 97% of hazardous waste generation by the chemicals and nuclear industry is wastewater
(1988 data).
± In process design, it is essential that facilities be included to remove pollutants from
waste-water streams.

Reaction pathways to reduce by-product toxicity

± As the reaction operations are determined, the toxicity of all of the chemicals, especially
those recovered as byproducts, needs to be evaluated.
± Pathways involving large quantities of toxic chemicals should be replaced by
alternatives, except under unusual circumstances.

Reducing and reusing wastes

± Environmental concerns place even greater emphasis on recycling, not only for unreacted
chemicals, but for product and by-product chemicals, as well. (i.e., production of
segregated wastes - e.g., production of composite materials and polymers).

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

15
  &#. ! 1|234

Avoiding non-routine events

± Reduce the likelihood of accidents and spills through the
reduction of transient phenomena, relying on operation at the
nominal steady-state, with reliable controllers and fault-
detection systems.
Design objectives, constraints and optimization
± Environmental goals often not well defined because economic objective
functions involve profitability measures, whereas the value of reduced
pollution is often not easily quntified economically.
± Solutions: mixed objective function (³price of reduced pollution´), or
express environmental goal as ³soft´ or ³hard´ constraints.
± Environmental regulations = constraints

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

16
 "| 3 

Example Disaster 1 ± Flixborough: 1st June 1974

http://www.hse.gov.uk/hid/land/comah/level3/5a591f6.htm
± 50 tons of cyclohexane were released from Nypro¶s KA plant
(oxidation of cyclohexane) leading to release of vapor cloud and
its detonation. Total loss of plant and death of 28 plant personnel.
± Highly reactive system - conversions low, with large inventory in
plant. Process involved six, 20 ton stirred-tank reactors.
± Discharge caused by failure of
temporary pipe installed to
replace cracked reactor.
± The so-called ³dog-leg´ was
not able to contain the
operating conditions of the
process (10 bar, 150 oC)

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

17
 "| 3 1|234

Example Disaster 2 ± Dhopal: 3rd December 1984

http://www.bhopal.com/chrono.htm
± Water leakage into MIC (Methyl isocyanate) storage tank leading to
boiling and release of 25 tons of toxic MIC vapor, killing more than
3,800 civilians, and injuring tens of thousands more.
± MIC vapor released because the refrigeration system intended to cool
the storage tank holding 100 tons of MIC had been shut down, the
scrubber was not immediately available, and the flare was not in
operation.

Dhopal - What can we learn?

± Avoid use of hazardous materials. Minimize stocks of hazardous
materials (³what you don¶t have, can¶t leak´).
± Carry out HAZOP analysis.
± Train operators not to ignore unusual readings.
± Keep protective equipment in working order.
± Control building near major hazards.
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

18
 "| 3 1|234

Example Disaster 3 ± Challenger: 28th January 1986

http://www.onlineethics.com/moral/boisjoly/RD-intro.html
± An O-ring seal in one of the solid booster rockets failed. A high-pressure flame
plume was deflected onto the external fuel tank, leading to a massive explosion
at 73 sec from lift-off, claiming the Challenger with its crew.
± The O-ring problem was known several months before the disaster, but down-
played by management, who over-rode concerns by engineers.

Challenger - What can we learn?

± Design for safety.
± Prevent µmanagement¶ over-ride of
µengineering¶ safety concerns.
± Carry out HAZOP analysis.

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

19
 "#.,5 3+* 

*

  
)


)  



)*)

,*)
 
+

- 

./
|

0
-

|
 
)*)
+
,*)
+

-   
.'/
0

| 

0'1


2 
.'3
14

  
0'5
3'4



 
5'
3/

These limits can be extended for mixtures, and for elevated

temperatures and pressures
With this kind of information, the process designer makes sure
that flammable mixtures do not exist in the process during
startup, steady-state operation, or shut-down.
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

20
 ! ** "

‡ Techniques to Prevent Fires and Explosions

± h `
 - addition of inert dilutant to reduce the fuel concentration below the LFL
± Installation of grounding devices and anti-static devices to avoid the buildup of static
electricity
± Use of explosion proof equipment
± Ensure ventilation - install sprinkler systems
‡ Relief Devices
‡ Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment
± the plant is carefully scrutinized to identify all sources of accidents or hazards.
± Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study is carried out, in which all of the
possible paths to an accident are identified.
± when sufficient probability data are available, a fault tree is created and the
probability of the occurrence for each potential accident computed.

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

21
  ! 6 ".&&

"* !  37  | & 

±  &  (&
± | 
± !*&8|
± ! 3"  6   & % 3
± |(  &
± ! 3! " 9 | & '* & 9 
± |. "6.*3'* 

 & 
±  &. 6 3  
"| 3 
± " .3 3 :  *´

 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

22
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

23
 
 Department of Polymer & Process Engineering U.E.T.Lahore |

24