Republic of the Philippines

Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Sta. Mesa, Manila

College of Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Department

Instructional Material in

Engineering Utilities 2

(Basic Mechanical Engineering)

AY: 2020-2021
 Table of Contents

Description Page

Module 01

Overview of Engineering Utilities - Types of utility networks, their importance

and effect on the over-all production and operation of industrial plants. 1

Module 02

Water & Water Treatment - Water sources and utilization, Requirements of

water treatment before its use, Chemical water treatment, Water Distribution 10

Module 03

Steam Generation and Condensate Distribution Systems - Steam Generation,

Steam Distribution Economy and Optimization, Steam Traps Utilization and
Efficiency, Condensate Recovery Utilization. 43

Module 04

Compressed Air Systems - Compressed Air Applications, Compressors,

Auxiliary Parts of Compressed Air System 69

Module 05

Refrigeration and Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) Systems -

Refrigeration systems and their characteristics, Compression and absorption
systems characteristics, Humidification and de-humidification equipment, Air-
conditioning systems, Cooling Towers 104

Module 06

Other Utility Systems - Inert gases system, Fuel supply distribution, Electrical
system, and electricity utilization optimization 139
 Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Sta. Mesa, Manila
ENGINEERING UTILITES 2 (BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)
First Semester AY:2020-2021
Module # 01

1-1. About the Module

1-1.1 Overview

Every industrial plant, whether it produces chemicals or food, cars, or computers, depends for
its operation on one or more utility systems. All plants require energy and most also need water
compressed air and other waste treatment and ventilation – all supplied through utility networks
and their associated equipment.

1-1.2 Module Objectives

After completing this module, the student must be able to:

• Familiarize various types of utilities.
• Learn the importance of those utilities.
• Discuss how the utilities are being used.

1-1.3 Course Materials

To complement this learning module, the students are advised to read/watch the following
resources listed below.

Ch.18: Utility services in process plants

Ray, S. and Das, G. (2020). Process Equipment and Plant Design Principles and Practices.
Elsevier, United Kingdom

Utilities System Oil and Gas Industry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-sYeqXRCZE
UICP - What Is Utilities In Chemical Process Industry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ff57w1ZBH0

Plant Utility Introduction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo_qqCzA1z0

1-1.4 Topics

Overview of Engineering Utilities

Types of utility networks, their importance and effect on the over-all production and operation of
industrial plants.
1-2. Introduction on Utilities

Raw materials, chemicals, and catalysts are components that are essential in any process.
Apart from these, additional material and energy streams required for its operation are the
“utilities.” This includes steam, electricity, compressed air, inert gases, fuel, and water. In some
plants, thermic fluids for heating, refrigeration systems, and pressurized hydraulic oil systems
may be present and are also considered as utilities. A plant may require most, or all the utilities
listed.

Typically, 15%-40% of the process operating cost is due to the utility consumption. In the
chemical industry, almost 70% of the energy used in a typical site passes through the utility
system (Broughton, 1994). The largest operating cost component in petroleum refineries is the
energy cost. This exemplifies the impact of utilities on the economics of the industry. Any waste
or inefficient utilization of utility adds to the operating cost. This is also associated with adverse
environmental impact as the operation of utility facilities like air compressors, refrigeration
systems, and other machinery generate polluting streams of spent oil, contaminated water,
greenhouse gases, etc.

Different grades of the same utility differ in the relevant property specification like voltage,
pressure, temperature, purity/impurity limit, etc. Use of high, medium, and low-pressure steam
as utilities in a process plant is such an example. Depending on the process requirements, the
designer decides on the grade of utility required. Conversion from one grade to another, if and
where necessary is an integral part of the utility system. The same utility item in a process plant
may be utilized for different applications, as shown above.
On the other hand, the designer may have to choose between different options of available
utilities. For example, to supply heat to a process, one may have to select between the options
of steam heating, fired heater, or a package thermal oil system. The final choice depends on the
availability of appropriate technology, economics, operational flexibility, reliability, and safety
considerations for the specific case.

Utility services are normally made available from a central facility and are supplied through utility
networks and their associated equipment. The engineer has to decide on the utility distribution
network to reach the end use points. In any typical large complex with several process plants,
the interrelation of utilities can be very complex. Particularly, there will be generation and
consumption of energy utilities (steam, fuel, and occasionally electrical power) from and by the
processes, as well as a central facility. Thus, the overall economic design of a large plant
complex demands the integration of the utility system for the total site considering each of the
individual processes therein. Such an approach leads to (a) the right number of units of right
size in the right locations
(b) flexibility in case of varying demand (c) provision for redundancy for breakdown and (d)
balancing the costs and benefits of centralized vs. local units.

1-3. Types of Utilities

1-3.1 Water

There are a number of grades of water used on process plants. The lowest quality water,
suitable only for duties such as firefighting is raw water: untreated water from a natural source.
The next grade up is potable water from municipal supply: raw water that has usually been
filtered, chemically conditioned, and disinfected. Process water is usually potable water that has
passed through a site break tank, though it is sometimes produced on site from natural sources
by similar processes to that used by municipal treatment works.
Demineralized/Deionized/Softened water has had ions(especially those responsible for scaling)
removed by various means, making it suitable for use as boiler feed water and recirculating
cooling water. Higher grades of water such as purified water and water for injection/pyrogen free
water are used in pharmaceutical production. The purest water of all, ultrapure water is used in
silicon chip production, and certain other high value applications.
Each use of water on the plant may have very specific quality requirements and all will require
careful design of the water treatment plant and consideration of the materials of construction of
the tanks, pumps, pipework, and fittings. Water treatment specialists tend, for example not to
use carbon steel in contact with water of any grade, unlike designers with an oil and gas
background. Light and air may need to be excluded from treated water tanks to prevent the
growth of algae and other microorganisms, and (especially with the higher grades of water)
potential areas of stagnation within the system need to be avoided.

1-3.2 Steam

Steam is needed throughout many plant types, for direct addition to process lines, e.g. to reduce
the viscosity of oil, indirectly for heating, as a prime mover of turbines for internal power
generation, and to drive valves and pumps, especially backups.

Steam is generated by steam boilers that may be coal, oil, or gas fired. Unlike other utilities, it
cannot be economically transported over long distances, so there will always be a need for
multiple boiler houses on large installations. The design of steam pipework must prevent steam
and water hammer and allow for the collection and return of condensate.

The design of lagging and weather protection, the use of separators and strainers for steam
conditioning, and corrosion prevention in external areas must also be considered by the
designer.

Any loss of energy represents inefficiency, so steam pipes are insulated to limit heat losses.
However, there will always be some heat loss, and this will cause steam to condense along the
length of the main. This creates the issue of collection and disposal of condensate to avoid the
corrosion, erosion, and water hammer that its accumulation can cause. The steam will become
wet as it picks up condensate droplets, reducing its heat transfer potential. If water is allowed to
accumulate, the overall effective cross-sectional area of the pipe is reduced, and steam velocity
can increase above the recommended limits. Steam pipework is therefore designed to fall in the
direction of the flow to a low point at a trap or separator pot to remove condensate.

The following checklist may be used to ensure that a steam distribution system will operate
efficiently and effectively:
 Are steam mains properly sized?
  Are steam mains properly laid out?
 Are steam mains adequately drained?
 Are steam mains adequately air vented?
 Is adequate provision made for system expansion?
 Can separators be used to improve steam quality?
 Are there leaking joints, glands, or safety valves and if so, why?
 Can redundant piping be blanked off or removed?
 Is the system effectively insulated?
 Is there sufficient accommodation of thermal expansion and contraction?
 Has bringing the system into and out of service been considered in the design—i.e.,
warming up to avoid thermal shock?

1-3.3 Compressed Air

Compressed air required in process plants is in two distinct categories: plant air for general
purpose use and instrumentation air for pneumatic instruments in the plant.

Plant air is mainly used for:

 purging toxic or any asphyxiating gases from vessels and columns before allowing entry
of personnel.
 driving pneumatic tools. Usually, these uses are intermittent, and the air is used from the
utility plant air tapping located strategically in the plant.
 as motive fluid in some minor equipment like drum filling pumps, pneumatic actuators,
agitators, furnace and boiler soot blowers.
 pressure testing.
 flushing of pipelines and ducts - primarily for cleaning
 keeping the electrical junction boxes, electrical fittings, and other enclosures prone to
produce spark under a slight positive pressure of air so that the ambient gases do not
get in. This is essentially done in areas where inflammable gases may be present, for
example, the battery area of most hydrocarbon processing industries.
 Plant dedusting like dry fog dedusting (DFDS) system.
Instrumentation air is used for:
 Pneumatic control valves, controllers, and relays that have been part of traditional
process instrumentation. Apart from being the working fluid for these instruments, it is
also used for carrying signal between such instruments.

Air supplied to these instruments finally leaks out through fine nozzles restricted by flapper,
around which the pneumatic instruments are built. This calls for a clean, continuous, and reliable
supply of instrument air for the instrumentation system to work reliably.

1-3.4 Inert Gas

An inert gas, by definition, is nonreactive, nonflammable and does not a assist combustion.
These must not react with the media being purged out. These must also be nontoxic and
noncorrosive and should not get absorbed, forming a potential hazard. A danger from inert gas
is asphyxiation, and such accidents are not uncommon during entry of personnel to equipment
after an inert purging step. To avoid such accidents, personnel entry permits are only issued
after the oxygen level in the enclosure is checked after inert gas purging.

Nitrogen is the most common inert gas. Carbon dioxide and argon are worth mentioning. Argon
has a higher cost and is usually used at higher temperatures. Pure carbon dioxide is used as a
utility (inert medium) in the welding industry and the tool industry. Use of carbon dioxide is
limited due to its acidic/corrosive nature when wet. LP steam is also used as inert for purging
out hydrocarbons in the refinery and petrochemical industry. Table 18.5 shows some typical
physical properties of different inert gases.

The main use of inert gas is for (A) purging of equipment and lines and (B) blanketing. Air is
purged out before start-up. Hydrocarbon and toxic gases need to be purged out during a
shutdown before entry of the personnel to the equipment. However, it must be remembered that
the inert gases may have to be replaced by air before personnel entry, or the person entering
must carry a breathing apparatus. Blanketing provides an inert cover on materials to avoid its
contact with air. An example is blanketing of reformer catalyst with nitrogen during a shutdown
to preserve it. Half-finished lubricating oil base stock is stored in tanks with nitrogen blanketing
to prevent darkening due to oxidation by air. Purity requirement of different inert gases depends
on the application for which it is intended. For example, the nitrogen used for purging and
blanketing in
hydrocarbon industries can tolerate some oxygen (<1%), whereas the electronics industry
demands ultrapure and ultraclean nitrogen.

Properties of Inert Gas

1-3.5 Electrical Power

The electricity demand of the process is mainly determined by totaling the power load required
for pumping, compression, air coolers, and solids-handling operations, and also includes the
power needed for electrochemical processes, motor drives, instruments, lighting, and other
general use. Large chemical plants like the petroleum refineries mostly have their own power
generation plant using turbo-generators with steam being supplied from boilers. Typical
generation voltage, in most cases, is 3ø, 6.6 kV. In some cases, this can be 11 kV, as well. The
high voltage power is stepped down for different uses. The frequency is 50 Hz for AC supply.
The typical voltage levels and their use are shown below.

Typical voltage levels and their use electrical power

1-3.6 Fuel Systems

Fired heaters are used for process heating above the highest temperatures that can be
economically achieved using high-pressure steam, typically about 250°C. Chemical plants use
fuel gas, fuel oil, and solid fuel (coke or coal) as the source of heat energy. Use of coal or coke
has been quite limited in modern chemical process plants, and mostly, liquid and gaseous fuels
are used in process furnaces. Therefore, we focus primarily on Fuel Gas and Fuel Oil. These
are fired in proprietary burners. Large gas burners fire around 250 kg/hr of gas and liquid fuel
burners fire 300-450 kg/hr. Process streams may be heated directly in the furnace tubes or
indirectly using hot oil or thermic fluid circuit.

1-4. Activities and Assessment

1. Enumerate the different types of utilities and explain their purpose.

2. Rank the types of utilities discussed in this module based on their application and explain
the reason behind their ranking.

1-5. References

Ray, S. and Das, G. (2020). Process Equipment and Plant Design Principles and Practices.
Elsevier, United Kingdom