Lecture 3.

Plant Location and Layout

The selection of plant site is very important to ensure that it has all the support required
to make the venture a feasible and profitable. There are many factors that must be
considered when selecting a suitable site. The principal factors to consider are:

1. Location, with respect to the marketing area.
2. Raw material supply.
3. Transport facilities.
4. Availability of labour.
5. Availability of utilities: water, fuel, power.
6. Availability of suitable land.
7. Environmental impact, and effluent disposal.
8. Local community considerations.
9. Climate.
10. Political and strategic considerations.

Selection of Site/Plant Location
1. Location, with respect to the marketing area
The selection of location with respect to the above criteria depends on the
cost of production versus the cost of transportation.

Most chemical/petrochemical process plant has significantly higher
production cost compared to the cost for bulk transportation if the
distance is within certain range. Therefore, most of the time the location
selected is near to the transportation hub particularly sea port. This will
enable the delivery of the finished products to customer as quickly and as
cheaply possible.
However, there are products that are produced in bulk quantities; such as
cement, mineral acids, and fertilisers, where the cost of the product per tonne
is relatively low compared to the cost of transportation which forms a
significant fraction of the sales price. In such cases, the plant should be
located close to the primary market.
All the above consideration may not apply or less important for low volume
production, high-priced products; such as pharmaceuticals.
2. Raw material supply.
The supply of raw materials is one of the most important factors especially
when large quantities are involved. It lead to savings in the storage facilities
as well as transports.

Thus the availability and price of suitable raw materials will often determine the
site location.

eg . Proximity of steelworks to the major coalfields in the UK, major petrochemical
complexes around Kertih where supply of natural gas from offshore Terengganu.

Plants producing bulk chemicals are best located close to the source of the
major raw material; where this is also close to the marketing area.

3. Transport Facilities
The transport of materials and products to and from the plant will be an overriding
consideration in site selection. If practicable, a site should be selected that is
close to at least two major forms of transport i.e., road, rail, waterway (canal
or river), or a sea port.

Land transport such as road transport is being increasingly used, and is suitable
for local distribution from a central warehouse. Rail transport will be cheaper for
the long-distance transport of bulk chemicals.

Air transport is convenient and efficient for the movement of personnel and
essential equipment and supplies, and the proximity of the site to a major airport
should be considered.
4. Availability of labour.
Although the general trend is for increased automation, many processes
would still require a reasonably large labour force.

Labour will be needed for construction of the plant and its operation. Skilled
construction workers will usually be brought in from outside the site area, but
there should be an adequate pool of unskilled labour available locally; and labour
suitable for training to operate the plant.

Skilled tradesmen will be needed for plant maintenance.

Local trade union customs and restrictive practices will have to be considered
when assessing the availability and suitability of the local labour for recruitment
and training.

In addition, the local pay rates, competing industries and turnover rates
need to be also considered.

5. Availability of utilities: water, fuel, power
Chemical processes invariably require large quantities of water for cooling
and general process use, and the plant must be located near a source of
water of suitable quality. Process water may be drawn from a river, from
wells, or purchased from a local authority. At some sites, the cooling water
required can be taken from a river or lake, or from the sea; at other locations
cooling towers will be needed.

Electrical power will be needed at all sites. Electrochemical processes is an
example of a process which require large quantities of power.

A competitively priced fuel must be available on site for steam and power
generation.
6. Availability of suitable land.
Suitable land area with reasonable land rates (for hire or purchase) has to be
identified and selected.

May require approaching the local council office to explore the possibilities.
7. Environmental impact, and effluent disposal.
In a building chemical process plant, the environmental impact has to be assessed.

The assessment should be done to ascertain the impact of the surrounding as a result of
building the plant.

Normally, an environmental impact assessment study will be conducted prior to
project approval by the local council.
8. Local community considerations.
10 Political and strategic considerations.
Stable country and political situation where there are not much possible public
disturbance
Financial incentives provided by the government and the tax policy
Financial facilities provided by the local businesses.
The local community in terms of facilities and support that could be provided.
9. Climate.
Climate can have an important bearing on the economic operation of the process.
Either a hot or cold severe climate, the cost of protective buildings, facilities for
personnel and utilities must be considered especially when performing the economics.
Site/Plant Layout
As with so many aspects of design, the layout of a process plant is not an exact science but
rather an art, as it embraces a high degree of experience coupled with the need to anticipate
the human elements in both operation and maintenance. It is an important factor in that a
carefully planned, functional arrangement of equipment, buildings and pipeworks is the key to
economical construction and efficient operation.
Some of the principles to consider;

The process units and ancillary buildings should be laid out to give the most economical flow of
materials and personnel around the site.

Hazardous processes must be located at a safe distance from other buildings. Consideration
must also be given to the future expansion of the site.

The ancillary buildings and services required on a site, in addition to the main processing units
(buildings), will include;
Storages for raw materials and products, tank farms and warehouses.
Maintenance workshops.
Stores, for maintenance and operating supplies.
Laboratories for process control.




The ancillary buildings and services required on a site, in addition to the main processing units
(buildings), will include (cont);
Fire stations and other emergency services.
Utilities: steam boilers,compressed air, power generation, refrigeration, transformer
stations.
Effluent disposal plant.
Offices for general administration.
Canteens and other amenity buildings, such as medical centres.
Car parks.





There are two general methods which plant equipment could be positioned ;

i. Group Pattern vessels, exchangers, columns, pumps etc., are grouped together in separate
areas for ease of operation and maintenance

ii. Flowline Pattern - equipment is laid out as arranged on the process flowsheet.
In larger plants, the first method is always used due to large numbers of similar units being
employed. However, in practise a compromise between the two methods is normally used.
An example of a site/plant layout
The following guidelines may be employed in designing the site/plant layout ;
i. Minimum Labour Demands
When labour cost is high, automation could result in significant reduction in labour demands.
Therefore, a central control room is required. Nevertheless, some labour outside the control room
is still required to perform certain manual operation but is kept to a low number.
For batch operation and start up/shut down operation of continuous plants where labour demands
are high, considerable savings could be made by arranging the units in an integrated manner as
much as possible. This will minimise movements required over all the unit and thus could reduce
the labour required. This will also help in the case of maintenance provided proper spacing is
allocated for the all the units.

ii. Elevation of Equipment
Elevation of equipments is expensive and should only be kept to the absolutely necessary ones
to ensure efficient operation eg. units employing gravity flow. There are cases where heavy and
bulky items are elevated such as reactor but to arrange its elevation with the rest of the process
according to the process flow will enable advantage to be taken on using the gravity as the flow
force this eliminating pumps/compressors/conveyor belt thus cheaper on maintenance.
In general, heavy and bulky unit should be placed on the ground with proper support even at the
expense of using pressure to force the flow unnaturally eg. pressure in distillation unit pushes the
vapour flow down to almost ground level where condenser is located.
iii. Operating Convenience
Equipments requiring frequent attention should be grouped together to facilitate operation and
maintenance. However, the safety clearance between the units have to be observed to ensure
safest possible arrangement and the most hazard prone equipment is placed at the location most
convenient for it to be removed.
A rectangular setup with a central over head pipe rack permits equipments to be installed along
both sides of the pipe way with ease of access.

iv. Lay out of Specific Plant Equipments
It is convenient to locate pumps in line along each side of an access way with the motors aligned
outwards for easy access maintenance.
Equipments requiring large cranes for services should be located at the perimeter of the
rectangular set up, adjacent to a main roadway.
Compressors (expensive items) should be installed to allow for rapid dismantling and reassembly
thus avoiding from the needs to have a stand by unit. Use compressors with bottom suction and
discharge connections and supporting it on a platform above ground level (approx 2.5 m or so)

v. Layout of Process Units
Large individual process units should be separated for efficient operation and maintenance and to
avoid possible spread of fire and explosion.
A master plan should be made for grouping these equipments together and for future expansion.
Other useful factors to consider;
The cost of construction can be minimised by adopting a layout that gives the shortest run
of connecting pipe between equipment, and the least amount of structural steel work.
However, this will not necessarily be the best arrangement for operation and maintenance.
Valves, sample points, and instruments should be located at convenient positions and
heights.
Heat exchangers need to be sited so that the tube bundles can be easily withdrawn for
cleaning and tube replacement.
Vessels that require frequent replacement of catalyst or packing should be located on the
outside of buildings.
Equipment that requires dismantling for maintenance, such as compressors and large
pumps, should be placed under cover.
Blast walls may be needed to isolate potentially hazardous equipment, and confine the
effects of an explosion.
Equipment should be located so that it can be conveniently tied in with any future
expansion of the process.
Space should be left on pipe alleys for future needs, and service pipes over-sized to allow
for future requirements.







Other useful factors to consider (cont.) Services.;
Buildings of an ancilliary nature such as offices, workshops, canteen and power supply
should be located so as to afford maximum convenience with minimum interference with
operation of the plant.
Relief devices that can vent inflammable and noxious fumes in an emergency should be
located down wind of the administrative facility.
Storage areas should be positioned for ease of access from public roads and railways and
remote from hazardous areas.
Facilities for generation and distribution of services (power supply, steam & water supply)
should be located in a completely safe area.
For road used by all types of vehicles at all times, they should be surfaced and main two-
way road should be at least 20ft (6.1 m) width with 30 ft (9.3 m) minimum centre line radius
to permit the turning of 3-4 axle vehicles.







Other useful factors to consider (cont.) Piping;
Overhead pipe network / yard piping which carries process materials and main utilities are
normally long and should be sited at or below ground level using racks. In most cases, the
power supply and instruments line are carried on the same structure.
Large pipes carrying process materials through the main process equipments should be
made as shortest possible but meeting all the clearance required. This could be achieved
by grouping the common equipments together.


Conclusions
We have gone through a number of main factors governing ;

the selection of site location which could have significant impact on the construction and
operation of the process plant.

the design of site layout which takes into account of operation and maintenance
requirement








Above all, there is no clear / systematic guidelines or procedures for designing site layout other
than leveraging on some common sense rules thus making it more of an art rather than
scientific approach.







Semester May 2011
Lecture 4. Plant Utility System
Many processes operate with a common utility system generated and located centrally.
BOILER
FEEDWATER
TREATMENT &
DE-AERATOR
HP
MP
LP
Condensate Return
Boiler Blowdown
Fuel
VHP
POWER
Emission
S
t
e
a
m

M
a
i
n
s

t
o

P
r
o
c
e
s
s

BOILER /USING FUEL OR
GAS TURBINE EXHAUST
POWER
BACK
PRESSURE
TURBINE
LET DOWN VALVE
LET DOWN VALVE
POWER
CONDENSING
TURBINE
CW
BACK
PRESSURE
TURBINE
POWER
BACK
PRESSURE
TURBINE
The centralised utility system supplies steam, power and cooling water to the processes. It can also
supply compressed air and refrigeration.
Condensate Return
Steam Supply
Condensate Return
Steam Supply
Condensate Return
Steam Supply
PROCESS 1
PROCESS 2
PROCESS 3
Cooling water cycle
CENTRALISED
UTILITY SYSTEM
POWER
Steam is extensively used in most chemical/petrochemical plants for ;

indirect heating in steam heaters
Steam tracing for pipes and storage tanks
Direct heating through live steam injection
Vacuum creation through steam ejectors
Mass and heat exchange by live steam injection in distillation
Reduction of partial pressure in gas phase reactors
Combustion processes to atomise fuel oil
Injection into combustion process to lower NO2 emissions
Power generation in steam turbine


This is due to a number of useful features which includes;

Energy can be generated at one point and distributed
A convenient way of transferring energy around
Has a high heat content as well as wide range of operating temperature
Non toxic and losses could be easily replaced
Does not require expensive materials of construction


The main components or equipments in the central utility system normally comprise of;
1. Boiler feedwater treatment
Ion Exchange
To treat water for removing suspended solids,
dissolved solids, dissolved salts and dissolved gases.
Filter
To remove particularly
calcium and magnesium
which could cause
fouling in heat exchanger

To remove all inorganic
salts by using strong acid
cation and base anion
resin.
To boiler
Chemical Treatment
To further remove the remaining
metal ions and dissolved gases left
LP steam
To remove dissolved gases principally O2 and
CO2 which could cause corrosion.
Deaerator
Vent
2. Steam Boilers
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases from a fire pass through one or more tubes running
through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by
thermal conduction, heating the water and ultimately creating steam.
Fire tube boiler.
Water tube boiler.
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. They are
used for high-pressure boilers. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the
steam-generating tubes. In smaller boilers, additional generating tubes are separate in the furnace, while larger
utility boilers rely on the water-filled tubes that make up the walls of the furnace to generate steam. The heated
water then rises into the steam drum. Here, saturated steam is drawn off the top of the drum. In some services,
the steam will reenter the furnace through a super heater to become superheated.
3. Steam Turbines
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts
it into rotary motion. It has almost completely replaced the reciprocating piston steam engine primarily
because of its greater thermal efficiency and higher power-to-weight ratio. Because the turbine generates
rotary motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator about 80% of all electricity
generation in the world is by use of steam turbines. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives
much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency through the use of multiple stages in the expansion of
the steam, which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible process.

HP LP
4. Gas Turbines
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a flow of
combustion gas. It has an upstream compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber
in-between. Energy is added to the gas stream in the combustor, where fuel is mixed with air and ignited. In
the high pressure environment of the combustor, combustion of the fuel increases the temperature. The
products of the combustion are forced into the turbine section. There, the high velocity and volume of the gas
flow is directed through a nozzle over the turbine's blades, spinning the turbine which powers the compressor
and, for some turbines, drives their mechanical output. The energy given up to the turbine comes from the
reduction in the temperature and pressure of the exhaust gas.
GE H series power generation gas turbine: in
combined cycle configuration, this 480-megawatt
unit has a rated thermal efficiency of 60%.
4. Steam System Configuration
The steam system configuration enables the use of steam to be systematically and efficiently
exploited. The general policy adopted for steam usage is that for heating, lower pressure steam is
always used in preference to the high pressure steam. This would enable ;

Higher pressure steam to be used for power generation
Higher latent heat content in the steam for the steam heater
Lower capital cost heat transfer equipment due to lower pressure.

Steam system typically has 3 levels of steam pressure namely HP, MP and LP. For larger sites, a
higher level namely very high pressure (VHP) steam is generated for power production. The let
down steam from the turbine is then channeled into the steam system.

At times, the steam is expanded to lower pressure using expansion valve.
Flow control, or metering, of the expanded fluid is accomplished by use of a
temperature sensing bulb filled with a similar gas as in the system that causes the
valve to open against the spring pressure in the valve body as the temperature on
the bulb increases.
Also, every steam heaters used for heating process stream will be equipped with steam traps.

A steam trap is a device used to discharge condensate and non condensable gases with a negligible
consumption or loss of live steam. Most steam traps are nothing more than automatic valves. They open,
close or modulate automatically. Others, like venturi traps, are based on turbulent 2-phase flows to obstruct
the steam flow. The three important functions of steam traps are:

Discharge condensate as soon as it is formed.
Have a negligible steam consumption.
Have the capability of discharging air and other non-condensable gases.

5. Cooling Water
Cooling water circulation is used for process cooling such as in condenser or cooler. The
cooling water used has to be treated where possible to minimise fouling and corrosion thus
extending equipment life and maintaining efficient heat transfer.

Natural and forced-draft cooling towers are generally used to provide the cooling water
required on a site; unless water can be drawn from a convenient river or lake in sufficient
quantity.

Sea water, or brackish water, can be used at coastal sites, but if used directly will necessitate
the use of more expensive materials of construction for heat exchangers.

Cooling tower constitutes the main component of the cooling water circulation system besides
the pumps needed for the water circulation and the chemical treatment required.

Cooling Tower
Industrial cooling towers can be used to remove heat from various sources such as machinery or heated
process material. The primary use of large, industrial cooling towers is to remove the heat absorbed in the
circulating cooling water systems used in power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural
gas processing plants, food processing plants, semi-conductor plants, and for other industrial facilities such
as in condensers of distillation columns, for cooling liquid in crystallization, etc. A typical large refinery
processing 40,000 metric tonnes of crude oil per day (300,000 barrels (48,000 m
3
) per day) circulates
about 80,000 cubic metres of water per hour through its cooling tower system.

There are 3 main types of heat transfer mechanism employed:

Wet cooling towers or simply open circuit cooling towers operate on the principle of evaporation. The
working fluid and the evaporated fluid (usually H
2
O) are one and the same.
Dry Cooling Towers operate by heat transfer through a surface that separates the working fluid from
ambient air, such as in a tube to air heat exchanger, utilizing convective heat transfer.
Fluid coolers or Closed Circuit Cooling Towers are hybrids that pass the working fluid through a tube
bundle, upon which clean water is sprayed and a fan-induced draft applied.

There are three types of cooling towers:
Natural draft, which utilizes buoyancy via a tall chimney. Warm, moist air naturally rises due to the density
differential to the dry, cooler outside air.
Mechanical draft, which uses power driven fan motors to force or draw air through the tower.
Induced draft: A mechanical draft tower with a fan at the discharge which pulls air through tower.
Forced draft: A mechanical draft tower with a blower type fan at the intake. The fan forces air into
the tower, creating high entering and low exiting air velocities.
A forced draft cooling tower
6. Refrigeration (Vapour Compression Cycle)
Vapor-compression refrigeration
[1]
is one of the many refrigeration cycles available for use. Oil refineries,
petrochemical and chemical processing plants, and natural gas processing plants are among the many
types of industrial plants that often utilize large vapor-compression refrigeration systems.

Conclusions
We have gone through the main components and arrangement of a typical plant centralised
utility system which consists of ;

Boiler feed water treatment
Steam boiler
Steam Turbine
Gas Turbine
Steam System Configuration
Cooling water
Refrigeration (only for plant with sub ambient temperature operation)

Together, they form the main and important support for ensuring successful plant operation.