Process equipment Design

Unit I
 Basis of design
• Design should have a specific objective , a need, and by developing and
evaluating possible designs, we arrive at best design for the specific
objective.
• Constraints narrow down the best possible design, It can be classified as:

• External constraint : constraints that are beyond the designers influence.

Ex: safety regulations, physical laws, resources, standards and codes,
government controls, economic constraints.

• Internal constraint : under the influence of designer,

Ex: Choice of process, choice of process conditions, materials, equipment
and time.
Design process
1. Design objective: (need)

A designer is creating a design for an

article, or a manufacturing process to
fulfill a particular need.
A designer should differentiate between
real need and wants. i.e. must have and
should have.
The wants are those parts of the initial
specification that may be thought
desirable, but which can be relaxed if
required as the design develops
Anatomy of a chemical manufacturing process
• Raw material storage : if the raw material supply is inadequate or non-
continuous, then the provisions has to be made to store the raw material, to
smooth out fluctuations and interruptions in supply.

• Feed preparation : Some purification, and preparation, of the raw materials

will usually be necessary before they are sufficiently pure, or in the right
form, to be fed to the reaction stage.

• Reactor : The reaction stage is the heart of a chemical manufacturing

process. In the reactor the raw materials are brought together under
conditions that promote the production of the desired product; invariably,
by-products and unwanted compounds (impurities) will also be formed.

• Product separation : In this first stage after the reactor the products and by-
products are separated from any unreacted material. If in sufficient
quantity, the unreacted material will be recycled to the reactor. They may
be returned directly to the reactor, or to the feed purification and
preparation stage. The by-products may also be separated from the products
at this stage.
• Purification: Before sale, the main product will usually need purification to
meet the product specification. If produced in economic quantities, the by-
products may also be purified for sale.

• Product storage : Some inventory of finished product must be held to match

production with sales. Provision for product packaging and transport will
also be needed, depending on the nature of the product. Liquids will
normally be dispatched in drams and in bulk tankers (road, rail and sea),
solids in sacks, cartons or bales.
The stock held will depend on the nature of the product and the market.

• Ancillary Process : In addition to the main process stages shown in Figure

above, provision will have to be made for the supply of the services
(utilities) needed; such as, process water, cooling water, compressed air,
steam. Facilities will also be needed for maintenance, fire fighting, offices
and other accommodation, and laboratories.
 Continuous and batch process

• Continuous process are designed to operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a

week, throughout the year.
• Some down time will be allowed for maintenance and, for some processes,
catalyst regeneration. The plant attainment; that is, the percentage of the
available hours in a year that the plant operates, will usually be 90 to 95%.

Attainment % = (hours operated/8760)*100.

• Batch processes are designed to operate intermittently. Some, or all, the

process units being frequently shut down and started up.

• Continuous processes will usually be more economical for large scale

production. Batch processes are used where some flexibility is wanted in
production rate or product specification.
Continuous versus batch process
• Code: A code is a standard that has been adopted by one or more governmental
bodies and has the force of law, or when it ahs been incorporated into a business
contract
• Standard: A standard can be define as a set of technical definitions and guidelines-
“how to” instructions for manufactures and designers.
• Following codes and standards will assure safety, economic and will be tedious

• In engineering practice codes an standards cover

1. Materials, properties and composition.
2. Testing procedures for performance, composition and quality.
3. Preferred sizes, for example, tubes, plates, sections.
4. Design methods, inspection, fabrication.
5. Codes of practice, for plant operation and safety.

Standards generally followed across the globe:

ASME: American society of mechanical engineers
ASTM: American society for testing materials.
ISO: International Organization for standardization.
ANSI: American National Standard Institute
API: American Petroleum Institute.
BSI : British Standard Institute.
TEMA: Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association
Flow Sheets
• Flow sheet:

• A flow sheet is a roadmap of a process or the arrangement of

process steps in sequence.

• Simplest flowsheet is a block diagram

only preliminary concepts are laid out without details.
• Process flow sheets embody the material and energy balances
and include the sizes of major equipment of plant.

• They include all vessels such as reactors, separators and

drums, process equipments such as heat exchangers, pumps
etc...

• Numerical data includes flow quantities such as compositions,

pressures and temperatures
Flowsheet equipment symbols
• Piping and Instrumentation Diagram(P&ID) also called as
mechanical flow diagram.

• They do not show any operating conditions, or composition or

flow quantities but they do show all major as well as minor
equipment realistically than on process flow sheet.

• Systematic numbering of process equipment, pipes, pumps,

valves auxiliary equipment(side glass, level indicators, control
loops).

• Presents mechanical type details to mechanical engineers,

electrical engineers, instrumentation engineers.
• Utility flow sheet:
• Gives utility information eg steam , cooling water , Dowtherm
(HT fluid), compressed air, chilled water. Etc..
 Valve selection
• Shut off valves • Control valves
No flow regulation Flow regulation can be
Gate valves done either manually
Plug valves or automatic.
Ball valves Globe valves
Butterfly valves
 Centrifugal pumps Positive displacement pumps
• Pumps that rotate to • Pumps that apply direct
generate necessary torque. pressure upon fluid
Liquid flows in a circulatory Reciprocating pumps: It uses a
motion through the volute piston /plunger to push the
and a high head can be liquid flow in a stationary
generated. chamber.
rotary pumps: chamber is
moving from the suction to
the discharge
• Pressure drop in pipelines:
• Pressure drop in a pipe line is given by

u 2
Pf  8 f * ( L / Di ) * ( )
2

‘f ‘ can be determined by using moody chart

f = f(Re, e/d)
Miscellaneous pressure losses:
Friction due to bends, valves , fittings and other disturbances of
flow in pipelines is accounted for by the concepts of either
equivalent lengths of pipe or multiples of the velocity heads.
• No. of velocity heads:
• Estimate no of velocity heads lost and add to ΔPf.

Pl  K * (u 2 / 2 g )
Equivalent pipe diameter:
The extra length of pipe that will account for the minor losses.

 u 2 
P  4 f ( L   Li) 
 2 * Di 
• A pipe line connecting two tanks contains has 4 standard elbows, a globe
valve that is fully open and a gate valve that is half open. The line is
commercial steel pipe 25mm ID and length 120m. The properties of the fluid
are viscosity=0.99mN-s/m2, density=998 kg/m3
• Calculate the total pressure drop due to friction when the mass flow rate is
3500kgs/hr

Soln: mass flow rate: 3500 kgs/hr

volumetric flow rate: 3500/998= 3.5 m3/hr
Cross sectional area of pipe: π/4*d2=4.908*10-4 m2.
Velocity in pipe = 1.98 m/sec.

Calculate Re= 49914.99

f = fn(Re, e/d), absolute roughness of steel pipe is 0.046 mm.
e/d= 0.046/25 = 0.00184
• Miscellaneous losses:

Fitting/valve no. of velocity heads equivalent pipe diameter

Entry into pipe 0.5 25

Elbows 0.8*4 40*4
Globe valve open 6 300
Gate valve half open 4 200
Exit from pipe 1 50

14.7 735
Total head loss, = k * U2/2g.
14.7 * 1.98*1.98 / 2* 9.81 = 2.94 mts.

Pressure drop = ρgh

998*9.81*2.94 = 28754 N/m2

Total pressure loss = frictional losses + losses due to fittings.

Frictional losses = 4f l ρ U2/d = 240388 N/ m2

total pressure losses = 269142 N/ m2

• Method 2, Equivalent pipe diameters:
Total equivalent pipe diameter: 735

Extra length of pipe to account for miscellaneous losses = 735*d

= 735*0.025 = 18.4 mts.

Total length = 120+18.4= 138.4 mts.

Pressure drop = 4f*138.4*ρ*U*U/d

=?
• Power requirement for pumping liquids:
To transfer liquids from one point to another, energy has to be
supplied to overcome
1. Pressure losses in pipelines.
2. Miscellaneous losses in fittings and valves.
3. Losses in process equipments.
4. Difference in elevation from end to end of pipeline.
5. Difference in pressure from end to end pipeline.
• Total energy required can be calculated from the equation.
g∆z + ∆P/ρ - ∆Pf /ρ – W = 0

Where,
∆P = difference in pressure. P1-P2.
∆Pf = pressure losses in pipelines due to friction as well as miscellaneous
losses and losses in process equipments. N/ m2
ρ = density of liquid
g = accerlation.
∆Z = Z1-Z2

Power requirement = W*m/η (for pump)

Where m = mass flow rate of liquid. (kg/sec)
η = efficiency of pump.
• A tanker carrying toluene is unloaded, using the ship’s pumps, to an on-shore
storage tank. The pipeline is 225 mm internal diameter and 900 m long.
Miscellaneous losses due to fittings, valves, etc., amount to 600 equivalent pipe
diameters. The maximum liquid level in the storage tank is 30 m above the lowest
level in the ship’s tanks. The ship’s tanks are nitrogen blanketed and maintained at
a pressure of 1.05 bar. The storage tank has a floating roof, which exerts a pressure
of 1.1 bar on the liquid. The ship must unload 1000 tonne within 5 hours to avoid
demurrage charges. Estimate the power required by the pump. Take the pump
efficiency as 70 per cent. Physical properties of toluene: density 874 kg/m3,
viscosity 0.62 mNm2 s.
Soln. : 200 tones / hr = 200*1000/3600 = 55.55 kgs/sec
Cross sectional area of pipe: π/4*d*d =
Velocity of fluid = 1.6 m/sec
Re= 507064
Total length of pipe including miscellaneous losses,
900+600*0.225= 1035 mts
Friction factor = 0.0019

Total losses due to friction = 4f(1035)ρU²/d

= 78220.9 N/m²
Difference in elevation height = -30 mts
difference in pressure = -0.05 bar
Energy balance,
∆P/ρ + ∆z(g) - ∆Pf/ρ – W = 0
Therefore,
W = – 5.72 – 294– 89.49
= 389.2 m²/sec²

power requirement = m*W / η

= 55.55(389.2)/0.70
= 31 KW
 Centrifugal pumps

Its purpose is to convert energy of a prime mover first into velocity or kinetic
energy and then into pressure energy of a fluid that is being pumped.
• The impeller is the rotating part that converts driver energy into the kinetic
energy.
• The volute or diffuser is the stationary part which converts kinetic energy
into pressure energy.
• The process liquid enters the
suction nozzle and then into eye
(centre) of a revolving device
known as an impeller.

• When the impeller rotates, it spins

the liquid sitting in the cavities
between the vanes outward and
provides centrifugal acceleration.

• As liquid leaves the eye of the

impeller a low-pressure area is
created causing more liquid to
flow toward the inlet.

• Because the impeller blades are

curved the fluid is pushed in
tangential and radial direction by
the centrifugal force.
• Stationary components
Casing:
casings are two types: volute casing and circular casing.
Volute casing are generally used for high head
Circular casing are used in cases of low head and high capacity.

• A volute is a curved funnel increasing in area to the discharge port . As the

area of the cross-section increases, the volute reduces the speed of the
liquid and increases the pressure of the liquid.
• Circular casing have stationary diffusion vanes surrounding the impeller
periphery that convert velocity energy to pressure energy. Conventionally,
the diffusers are applied to multi-stage pumps.
• Circular casings can be either of solid casing or split casing.
• solid casing implies a design in which the entire casing including the
discharge nozzle is all contained in one casting or fabricated piece.
• A split casing implies two or more parts are fastened together.
• Other stationary components:

• Seal chamber and stuffing boxes

• When the sealing is achieved by means of a mechanical seal, the chamber
is commonly referred to as a Seal Chamber.
• When the sealing is achieved by means of packing, the chamber is referred
to as a
• Stuffing Box.
• Both the seal chamber and the stuffing box have the primary function of
protecting the pump against leakage at the point where the shaft
• passes out through the pump pressure casing..
• Rotating components:
• Impeller :
• The impeller is the main rotating part that provides the centrifugal
accerlation to the fluid. They are classified as:

– Based on major direction of flow in reference to the axis of rotation.

 Raial flow : low flow an high head design
 Axial flow : high flow and low head design
 Mixed flow

– Based on mechanical construction

 closed : shrouds or side walls enclosing the vanes.
 Open : no shrouds or side wall to enclose the vane.
 Semi open or vortex type design.
• Closed: requires wear rings and
these wear rings provide another
maintenance problem
• Open/semi open : these are less
likely to clog but nee manual
adjustment to the volute and to
prevent recirculation.
• Vortex: good for solid and stringy
materials but are less efficient
than conventional designs.
• Shaft:
• The basic purpose of a centrifugal pump shaft is to transmit the torques
encountered when starting and during operation while supporting the
impeller and other rotating parts. It must do this job with a deflection less
than the minimum clearance between the rotating and stationary parts.
• Charecteristic curves:

• Capacity: Capacity means the flow rate with which liquid is moved or
pushed by the pump to the desired point in the process.

• The capacity depends on a number of factors like:

 Process liquid characteristics i.e. density, viscosity
 Size of the pump and its inlet and outlet sections
 Impeller size
 Impeller rotational speed RPM
 Size and shape of cavities between the vanes
 Pump suction and discharge temperature and pressure conditions.

Q=A*V
V=n*d n = impeller speed
d = impeller diameter
• Head : The head term is used to measure the kinetic energy created by the
pump.
• In other words, head is a measurement of the height of a liquid column that the
pump could create from the kinetic energy imparted to the liquid. Imagine a
pipe shooting a jet of water straight up into the air, the height the water goes up
would be the head.
• Pump characteristic curves
 Head vs. capacity:

q = volumetric flow rate

∆H = head (mts)
Ap = cross sectional area
= angle made by the impeller tip with the tangent to the circle.
U2 = peripheral velocity
Typical system and pump performance curves
• System curve:
 ∆H = static head + frictional head + other head losses.
 Example 5.3: of Coulson & Richardson volume 6, 3rd edition
• Pipes:
• Wall thickness
P=internal pressure (bar)
 P*d 
t    d=pipe OD (mm)
 20 d  P 
 d = design stress (N/mm2)

Schedule number: The wall thickness of the pipe is indicated by the schedule no.
Which increases with increase in wall thickness.

• Ten schedule numbers, 10,20,30,40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, and 160, are in
use, but with pipe less than 8 in. in diameter only numbers 40, 80, 120, and
160 are common.

N
Schedule no. = Ps*1000/σs Ps = Safe working pressure mm 2
N
σs = Safe working stress mm 2
• Economic pipe diameter:
• Wall thickness: pipe schedule
• Thickness of pipe:

• Where, P = internal pressure, bar,

• d — pipe od, mm,
• — design stress at working temperature, N/mm2.

• Schedule Number:
• Pipe size selection :
• Economic pipe diameter:
• The capital cost of a pipe run increases with diameter, whereas the
pumping costs decrease with increasing diameter. The most economic pipe
diameter will be the one which gives the lowest annual operating cost.
Cost equations are developed by considering 1 meter length of pipe

n
• Purchase cost: Bd $/m
where, ‘B’ and ‘n’ are constants depends on pipe material and schedule.

n
• Installed cost = Bd (1  F )
where, the factor ‘F’ includes the cost of valves, fittings and erection, fo a
typical run of pipe.
• The capital cost can be included in the operating cost as an annual capital
charge. There will also be an annual charge for mantainence based on the
capital cost,
Cc = Bd n (1  F )(a  b)
Where,
Cc = annualized capital cost of the piping, $/m.yr
a = capital annualization factor, 1/yr
b = maintainence cost as fraction of installed capital, 1/yr

Power require for pumping a fluid is

Power = volumetric flow rate x pressure drop
Only the frictional pressure drop need to be considered.
• For turbulent flow in clean stainless steel pipes the fanning fiction factor is
given as:
C f  0 .04 Re 0.16

• Fanning pressure drop

4.84
Where,
P  0.125 G 1.84  0.16  1d i
N
∆P = pressure drop, m 2 (Pa)
µ = viscosity, N 2
m s

The annual pumping costs will be given by:

Ap G
A = plant attainment, hours/year
Cw  P
1000  
p = cost of power, $/kWh
η= pump efficiency
Ap
cw  1.25 x10  4 G 2.84  0.16  2 d i4.84

• The total annual operating cost

Ct  Cc  Cw

• Optimal diameter : d
(Ct )  0
ddi
1 /  4.84  n 
 2  1011  ApG 2.84  0.16   2 
d , opt   
 EnB (1  F )( a  b ) 

A 106 carbon steel pipe:

0 . 51  0 . 36
25 to 200 mm, d i , opt  0 . 664 G 
250 to 600 mm, d i , opt  0 . 534 G
0 . 43
  0 .3
304 stainless steel pipe:
0.49 0.35
25 to 200 mm, d i ,opt  0.550 G 
250 to 600 mm, d i ,opt  0.465G 0.43  0.31
• Estimate the optimum pipe diameter for a flow of HCl of 7000 kg/h at 5
bar, 15⁰C, stainless steel pipe. Molar volume 22.4 m / kmol , at 1 bar and 0⁰C.
3

Solution:
Using ideal gas equation , P=(ρ/M)*RT

Therefore, density at operating conditions,

 P2   T 1 
 2       1
 P1   T 2 

Where,  weight   Mol .Wt . 

1      36 .5 / 22 . 4
 volume   molarvolum e 
• Substituting,
Density at operating conditions, = (36.5/22.4)*(5/1)*(273/288)
= 7.72 kg/m3

0 .43
Optimum diameter, =  7000 
0 .465   x 7 .72  0.31  328 .4 mm
 3600 

Generally a schedule 40 will be used