EMS510U: Process Design and

Simulation

Introduction to Process Design and Simulation

Dr Sanaa Hafeez
 Format
Module expectations
• Asynchronous activities – Self study (~1 hour)
• Weekly Lecture (2 hours) and in class Kahoot quiz
• IT class, Friday 11am – 1pm, Bancroft:1.23 (weeks 1, 3 – 9)
• Practical labs, (weeks 9 & 10)

Assessment
• Extended individual assessment on design principles (60%)
• Deadline: Friday 22nd March, 23.59pm
• Piping and Instrumentation Diagram analysis (40%)
• Friday 5th April, 6pm (group)
 Weekly programme
Week Content
1 Introduction to process design and simulation
2 Introduction to Chemical Process diagrams
3 Mass balances (Hand calculation, simulation and flowsheets)
4 Introduction to project + Principles of Design
5 Environmental, Social and safety considerations
6 Introduction to ancillary equipment: Pumps, Valves and compressor
7 SKEMP week
8 Introduction to lab (design and planning)
9 LABS workshop, design feedback
10 LABS workshop, Q & A
11 LABS workshop
12 No lecture
 Module Objectives
• By the end of the module, you will be able to:
– Design and size unit operations to accomplish a specific
process step
– Integrate and arrange process units according to
industrially accepted standards and hazard review
procedures to achieve an overall processing objective
– Develop an understanding on Chemical Process Diagrams
– Build simulate a process in ASPEN plus
 What is process design?

“The creative activity whereby we generate

ideas and translate them into equipment and
processes for producing new materials or for
significantly upgrading the value of existing
materials.”
 Design: synthesis analysis
• Design tasks are open ended!
• Highly under-specified
– Assumptions are necessary during this stage
• Process units to use must be selected
• Interconnection of process units must be selected
• Operating conditions must be specified
 Design: synthesis analysis
• Process synthesis
– Identification of the optimal choice of units and
the connections between them, Selection of
solvents etc.
• Process design and simulation
– Establishment of the optimal operating
conditions and definition of each unit operation
• Process analysis
– Study of the effectiveness of design in the light
of operational considerations (safety,
environmental etc)
 Design: synthesis analysis
• Your role as an engineer:
– To consider safety environmental constraints
– Simplicity of start-up/operation/shut-down
– Use rules-of-thumb to eliminate some alternatives from
consideration, and to design a number of alternatives for
comparison
 Stages of Design Process
• Feasibility study
• Conceptual Design
• Process and Detailed design
• Construction
• Start-up operations
 Step 1 – Feasibility study
• Gathering data for quick estimates
– Availability of suppliers, specifications and raw
material costs
– Thermodynamic/kinetic data for reactions
– Facilities equipment available
– Safety requirement
– Chemical and physical properties of all reactants
 Step 2 – Conceptual Design
• Process development
 Process Development
• The collection of additional reaction and physical property data (after
preliminary design) to increase the accuracy of the quick-estimate
generated from the feasibility survey
• May include lab research and/or pilot operations as necessary to obtain
missing information
• Design data is collected, including accurate material and energy balances,
an understanding of the effects of various process conditions data.
 Step 2 – Conceptual Design
• Process development
• Flowsheet definition
• Cost estimation
• PFD
• Simulation
• Specification sheets
• Environmental safety review
 Step 3 – Process Design
• Equipment design
• Piping layout
• Plot plan
• Instrument loop diagrams
• Safety review
• Environmental permitting
• Stages
• Iterative process
 Step 4 - Construction
• Site prep
• Vessel fabrication
• Facilities erection
• Piping conduit/wiring
• Control loop checkout
• Safety review
• Operator training
 Step 5 – Start up Operation
• Pressure testing
• Flow testing / instrument calibration
• Closed loop operation
• Start-up
• Start-up safety review
• Operation
• Environmental monitoring
 What is simulation?
“A process of designing an operational model of
a system & conducting experiments with this
model for the purpose either of understanding
the behaviour of the system or of evaluating
alternative strategies for the development or
operation of the system… “
 Introduction to simulation
Real- A set of assumptions
world Modeling
concerning the behavior of a system & Analysis
process

• The imitation of the operation of a real-world process or

system over time
– to develop a set of assumptions of mathematical, logical, and symbolic
relationship between the entities of interest, of the system.
– to estimate the measures of performance of the system with the
simulation-generated data
 Introduction to simulation
Real- A set of assumptions
world Modeling
concerning the behavior of a system & Analysis
process

• Simulation implies modelling, as well as tuning of models on

experimental data. A simulation model serves to conduct
“virtual experiments”
– as an analysis tool for predicting the effect of changes to existing
systems
– as a design tool to predict the performance of new systems
Design & analysis through simulation
A chemical plant is our real world

Divider

Mixer Reactor Separator

 Design & analysis through simulation
Main steps
Develop
process
model

Define Divider
Collect
problem additional
data

Mixer Reactor Separator

Analyze
results

Solve model
equations
 Design & analysis through simulation
What information do we need?

Divider

Stream
Mixer Reactor Separator data

Equipment
Mixture Unit Process data
Known data
compounds operations flowsheet
Operating
data
 Design & analysis through simulation
What do we need to select (from a simulator)?

Divider

Unit
Mixer Reactor Separator models

Thermo-
Mixture Unit Process models
Library
compounds operations flowsheet
Methods
of
solution
 What is a Process Simulator
• An Engineering tool which performs:
– Automated calculations
– Materials and/or energy balance
– Physical property estimations
– Design/rating calculations
– Process optimization
Steps in simulation
study
 Benefits of process simulation
• Process knowledge
– Verification of the process operating conditions and plant
specifications
– Information on intermediate streams (not measured)
– Enthalpy balances information
– Validation of phase equilibrium models for the real
systems to be used in similar conditions
– Process de-bottlenecking for each individual section
 Why is this important?
• It represent with high accuracy the real world
• It allows to focus on the interpretation of the results rather
than the method for obtaining them
• It allows a global vision on the process engineering by
assembling theories and models
• It is essential in the design of new and existing processes
• It is essential in the analysis of existing plants in terms of
environmental impact
 Common sources of problems?
• Model/program does not apply to your problem
• Errors in input data, inappropriate defaults
• Over complication: keep it simple!
• Units of measurement
• Convergence problems: ignoring error and warning messages
• Applying models or data outside their range of validity
 When is simulation appropriate?
• Simulation enables the study of, and experimentation with, the internal
interactions of a complex system, or of a subsystem within a complex system.
• When organizational and environmental changes can be simulated, and the effect
of these alterations on the model’s behaviour can be observed
• The knowledge gained in designing a simulation model may be of great value
toward suggesting improvement in the system under investigation.
• By changing simulation inputs and observing the resulting outputs, valuable insight
may be obtained into which variables are most important and how variables
interact.
• Simulation can be used to experiment with new designs or policies prior to
implementation, so as to prepare for what may happen.
• Simulation can be used to verify analytic solutions.
 When is NOT simulation appropriate?
• When the problem can be solved using common sense.
• When the problem can be solved analytically.
• When it is easier to perform direct experiments.
• When the simulation costs exceed the savings.
• When the resources or time are not available.
• When system behaviour is too complex or can’t be defined.
• When there isn’t the ability to verify and validate the model.
Application of process simulations
Process Industries Applications
Oil & Gas Offshore exploration, Surface treatment, Pipeline
transport, Underground storage, Gas processing
Refining Gasoline and fuels
Petrochemicals Hydrocarbon based chemicals, Methanol, Monomers
Basic Organic Intermediates, Solvents, Detergents, Dyes
Chemicals Ammonia, Sulphuric Acid, Fertilisers
Inorganic Chemicals Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics
Fine Chemicals Food and bio products
Biotechnology Steel, Aluminium, Copper, etc.
Metallurgy Polyethylene, PVC, Polystyrene, fibres, etc.
Polymers Paper pulp
Paper & Wood Power plants, Coal gasification
Energy Waste treatment, Safety
Nuclear industry Water cleaning, Biomass valorisation
Environment
 What is AspenPlus?
• AspenPlus is a market-leading process
modelling tool for conceptual design,
optimization and performance monitoring for
the different industrial applications
 AspenPlus approach
• Sequential Modular (SM)
• Each unit operation “block” is solved in a certain
sequence
• Each block computes its outlet streams
• When recycles are present, iterative solution is
required
• Used to solve a large number of blocks
• Can be time consuming for certain types of problems
 AspenPlus approach
• Equation Oriented (EO)
• All equation are solved simultaneously
• A good starting point is necessary
• Combination
• Use SM approach to initialise and/or get close to a solution to then
use EO approach to solve flowsheet more precisely
• Use SM approach to get an initial solution, then use EO approach
to do optimisation or model tuning
 SM vs EO approach
• SM approach
• Large number of unit operations with few recycle loops
• For initial PFD design problems
• First step of rigorous modelling using EO approach
• EO approach
• Highly heat-integrated processes
• Highly recycled processes
• Process with many design specification specifications
• Process optimization
• Process model tuning through data reconciliation and parameter estimation
 Steady state vs Dynamic simulations
• Steady-state simulation is used to determine
optimal design parameters and operating
condition of the systems.
• Dynamic simulation, modelled based on
steady-state simulation, is used to examine
dynamic behaviours of the systems.
 Steady state simulation
• General starting point: Process description and design specifications
• Convert to BFD -> PFD -> PSD
• General problem analysis steps in PSD:
• Input/output streams
• Thermodynamic issues
• Reactor and separation systems
• Recycle systems
• Control of flowsheet specifications
• Transformation of real units into simulation units
• DOF analysis
• Tear streams and computational sequence
 Good flowsheeting practices
• To build large flowsheets, start by putting few
blocks at a time and solve them
• By joining small pieces together it is easier to
troubleshoot

• Solve for single pass process before joining

recycle loop
 Good flowsheeting practices
• Keep in mind the end use of the model
• Build simple flowsheet (will run faster)
• Add details later if required
• Ensure flowsheet inputs are reasonable
• Check that results are consistent and realistic
 Summary
• AspenPlus is an AID in making calculations and
decisions -> YOU must ensure that it is “fit for
purpose”
• YOU are responsible for any results you
generate
• YOU are required to make sound engineering
judgements
 EMS510U: Process Design and
Simulation

Introduction to Process Design and Simulation

Dr Sanaa Hafeez