Plant Design and Economics

Instructor : Ysacor M/Surafel .

Year : 2013 E.C

Target group : 5th year chemical Engineering students

Lecture -1
 Course outline
UNIT: INTRODUCTION TO PLANT DESIGN UNIT 4: COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS (CBA)
1.1 The need for professionalism and ethics 4.1 Cash-Flow
1.2 General Design Considerations 4.2 Measures of profitability (PBP, IRR, NPV, PI)
1.3 Nature and function of design 4.3 Interests, Taxes and insurance, Depreciation
1.4 Sources of design information and data
UNIT 2: PROCESS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT UNIT 5: SELECTION AND SPECIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT
2.1 Project conception 5.1 Auxiliaries and utilities
2.2 Preparing flow-sheets, Block diagram, process flow 5.2 Material handling equipment
diagrams and standard symbols 5.3 Mass transfer and reactors equipment
2.3 Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams 5.4 Mechanical unit operation equipment
2.4 Material and Energy Balances 5.5 Materials selection

UNIT 3: FINANCIAL & ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A PLANT UNIT 6: SITE SELECTION& PLANT LAYOUT
3.1 Types of Capital Investments
3.2 Cost Estimation and Its Techniques UNIT 7: SAFETY IN PROCESS PLANT DESIGN
3.3 Types of Capital Cost Estimates 7.1 Safety and loss prevention
3.4 Factors Affecting Investment and Production Cost 7.2 Environmental and safety considerations
3.5 Cost indexes 7.3 Waste Minimization

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 Course objectives

o The course aims to introduce students with the principle of chemical

process design and to perform overall economic analyses of a plant. Upon
the completion of the course, the students will be able to:

 Compute Investment analysis and analysis Profitability of chemical process

plant
 Analysis equipment Selection, Specification and Design.
 select site and analyses safety in process plant design.
 Analysis Waste minimization

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 Introduction
 Design should be viewed as the focal point of chemical engineering practice in establishing
new plants and products .

 Far more than the development of a set of specifications for a new chemical plant, design is
that creative activity through which engineers continuously improve the operation of
facilities to diversify products that enhance the quality of life.

 Whether developing the new plant, proposing and guiding process modifications, or
troubleshooting and implementing operational strategies for existing equipment,
engineering design requires a broad spectrum of knowledge and intellectual skills to be able
to analyze decide 0n the big picture as well as the minute details. Design is a job of making
decisions.
Plant design is the conversion of ideas or data in the form of needs to data in
the form of designed plant (process & technical systems) by sciences, and
engineering knowledge in the most suitable manner and the target is achieved
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 The Need For Professionalism and Ethics

 The graduating engineer will only become a 'good' designer if they:

 Can apply the basic knowledge of chemical engineering
 understand the broad constraints placed on chemical plant design, e.g.
economics, environmental, social, etc.
 are widely read, think about the ideas encountered, and use the knowledge and
ideas in a design study.
 In terms of personal qualities, a good designer/ project student must be:
o Enthusiastic;
o Positive;
o Realistic;
o Self motivated;
o A problem-solver;
o An accurate, careful and logical worker

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 Nature and Function of Design

 Design is a creative activity, and as such can be one of the most rewarding and
satisfying activities undertaken by an engineer.

 It is the synthesis and the putting together of ideas to achieve a desired

purpose.

 The design does not exist at the commencement of the project.

 The designer starts with a specific objective in mind, a need, and by developing
and evaluating possible designs, arrives at what he considers the best way of
achieving that objective; be it a better chair, a new bridge, or for the chemical
engineer, a new chemical product or a stage in the design of a production
process.
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 Plant Design Constraints
When considering possible ways of achieving the objective the designer will be constrained by
many factors, which will narrow down the number of possible designs; but, there will rarely be just
one possible solution to the problem, just one design.

Several alternative ways of meeting the objective will normally be possible, even several best
designs, depending on the nature of the constraints.
1.External constraints: They are fixed,
2. Internal constraints: less rigid,
invariable & are outside the
and are with in the designer's
designer's influence
influence
 physical laws,
 Raw materials & inputs
 government regulations.
 Process & equipment choice
 standards & Codes,and
 Process Conditions [T, P, C &
 Economics
Others] Time

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 Stage of Design

Figure 1.2 shows design as an iterative

procedure; as the design develops the designer
will be aware of more possibilities and more
constraints, and will be constantly seeking new
data and ideas, and evaluating possible design
solutions.

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 1. The design objective (the need)

The designer is creating a design for an article, or a manufacturing process, to fulfill a

particular need.

In the design of a chemical process, the need is the public need for the product, the
commercial opportunity, as foreseen by the sales and marketing organization.

Within this overall objective the designer will recognize sub-objectives; the
requirements of the various units that make up the overall process.

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 2. Data collection

To proceed with a design, the designer must first assemble all the
relevant facts and data required.

For process design this will include information on possible processes,

equipment performance, and physical property data. This stage can
be one of the most time consuming, and frustrating, aspects of
design.

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 3. Generation of possible design solutions

The creative part of the design process is the generation of possible solutions to the problem
(ways of meeting the objective) for analysis, evaluation and selection.

In this activity the designer will largely rely on previous experience, his own and that of others.

It is doubtful if any design is entirely novel. The antecedence of most designs can usually be
easily traced.

e.g In the chemical industry, modern distillation processes have developed from the ancient
stills used for rectification of spirits.

The experienced engineer will wisely prefer the tried and tested methods, rather than possibly more
exciting but untried novel designs. The work required to develop new processes, and the cost, is usually
underestimated.

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 4. Selection
The designer starts with the set of all possible solutions bounded by the external constraints, and by
a process of progressive evaluation and selection, narrows down the range of candidates to find the
“best” design for the purpose.

The selection process can be considered to go through the following stages:

1 Possible designs (credible)-----within the external constraints.

2 Plausible designs(feasible) -----within the internal constraints.
3 Probable designs -----likely candidates.
4 Best design(optimum) ------judged the best solution to the problem

The selection process will become more detailed and more refined as the design progresses from the area of
possible to the area of probable solutions.
In the early stages a coarse screening based on common sense, engineering judgement, and rough costing will
usually suffice. The best design needs detailed design work and costing.

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 Types of Design

 Preliminary or quick estimate designs : A preliminary estimate is the approximate cost of the project that
is calculated at the conceptual stage of the project. When the project drawings and specifications are not
available, a preliminary estimate is prepared. It forecasts the total budgeted cost of the specific
construction project

 Detailed estimate designs : Detailed estimates utilize the complete (or almost complete) design of the
product or project. Hence, the quantities of resources are known but not the costs. Definitive estimates
utilize firm cost information, for example, quotes or tenders. Final estimates are performed after the
project is complete

 Firm process or detailed designs Detailed design is the phase where the design is refined and plans,
specifications and estimates are created. Detailed design will include outputs such as 2D and 3D models, P
& ID's, cost build up estimates, procurement plans etc. This phase is where the full cost of the project is
identified

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 General Design Consideration

 Health and safety hazards

 Loss prevention
 Environmental protection
 Plant location
 Plant layout
 Plant operation and control
 Utilities
 Structural design
 Storage
 Materials handling
 Patent considerations ….

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 Sources of Data

• A survey of the literature will often reveal general information

and specific data pertinent to the development of a design project.
• One good method for starting a literature survey is to obtain a
recent publication dealing with the subject under investigation.
This publication will give additional references.
• A primary source of information on all aspects of chemical
engineering principles, design, costs, and applications is “The
Chemical Engineers’ Hand-book” published by McGraw-Hill
Book Company with R. H. Perry and D. W. Green

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 A large number of textbooks
handbooks have been published giving physical properties
and other basic data
Chemical Engineering Catalog
Publication in periodicals, books, trade bulletins,
government reports, university bulletins, and many other
sources
Personal experience and contacts, attendance at meetings of
technical societies and industrial expositions, and reference
to the published literature.
Internet sources
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