PLANT LAYOUT

GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Plant layout is often a compromise between a number of factors such as:

• The need to keep distances for transfer of materials between plant/storage units to a
minimum to reduce costs and risks;
• The geographical limitations of the site;
• Interaction with existing or planned facilities on site such as existing roadways, drainage
and utilities routings;
• Interaction with other plants on site;
• The need for plant operability and maintainability;
• The need to locate hazardous materials facilities as far as possible from site boundaries
and people living in the local neighbourhood;
• The need to prevent confinement where release of flammable substances may occur;
• The need to provide access for emergency services;
• The need to provide emergency escape routes for on-site personnel;
• The need to provide acceptable working conditions for operators.
The most important factors of plant layout as far as safety aspects are concerned are those to:

• Prevent, limit and/or mitigate escalation of adjacent events (domino);

• Ensure safety within on-site occupied buildings;
• Control access of unauthorised personnel;
• Facilitate access for emergency services.
INHERENT SAFETY

• Intensification to reduce inventories;

• Substitution of hazardous substances by less hazardous alternatives;
• Attenuation to reduce hazardous process conditions i.e. temperature, pressure;
• Simpler systems/processes to reduce potential loss of containment or possibility of errors
causing a hazardous event;
• Fail-safe design e.g. valve position on failure.

Plant layout considerations to achieve Inherent Safety are mainly those concerned with
domino effects (see below).
General Design Considerations

The development of a complete plant design requires consideration of many different factors
such as:
a. Plant location
b. Site and plant layout
c. Plant operation and control
d. Utilities e. Storage
f. Waste disposal
g. Health and safety
h. Materials handling
SITE LAYOUT
1. Storage for raw materials and products: tank farms and warehouses;
2. Maintenance workshops;
3. Stores, for maintenance and operating supplies;
4. Laboratories for process quality control;
5. Fire stations and other emergency services;
6. Utilities;
7. Effluent disposal plant: waste water treatment, solid and or liquid waste collection;
8. Offices for general administration;
9. Canteens and other amenity buildings, such as medical centers;
10. Parking lots.
Some rules (notes) about the site layout
• Utility buildings should be sited to give the most economical run of pipes to and from
the process units.

• Cooling towers should be sited so that, under the prevailing wind, the plume of
condensate spray drifts away from the plant area and adjacent properties.

• The main storage areas should be placed between the loading and unloading facilities
and the process units they serve.

• Storage tanks containing hazardous materials should be sited at least 70 m (200 ft) from
the site Boundary
PLANT LAYOUT
The principal factors to be considered in making plant layout are:
1. Economic considerations: construction and operating costs;
2. The process requirements;
3. Convenience of operation;
4. Convenience of maintenance;
5. Safety;
6. Future expansion;
Principles of Plant Layout:
While designing the plant layout, the following principles must be kept in view:

(i) Principle of Minimum Movement:

Materials and labour should be moved over minimum distances; saving cost and time of transportation and
material handling.

(ii) Principle of Space Utilization:

All available cubic space should be effectively utilized – both horizontally and vertically.

(iii) Principle of Flexibility:

Layout should be flexible enough to be adaptable to changes required by expansion or technological
development.

(iv) Principle of Interdependence:

Interdependent operations and processes should be located in close proximity to each other; to minimize
product travel.
vi) Principle of Safety:
There should be in-built provision in the design of layout, to provide for comfort and safety of workers.

(vii) Principle of Smooth Flow:

The layout should be so designed as to reduce work bottlenecks and facilitate uninterrupted flow of work throughout the
plant.

(viii) Principle of Economy:

The layout should aim at effecting economy in terms of investment in fixed assets.

(ix) Principle of Supervision:

Objectives/Advantages of Plant Layout:
Following are the objectives/advantages of plant layout:

(i) Streamline flow of materials through the plant

(ii) Minimise material handling

(iii) Facilitate manufacturing progress by maintaining balance in the processes

(iv) Maintain flexibility of arrangements and of operation

(v) Maintaining high turnover of in-process inventory

(vi) Effective utilisation of men, equipment and space

(vii) Increase employee morale

(viii) Minimise interference (i.e. interruption) from machines

(ix) Reduce hazards affecting employees