Design Project 499 Process Design Project 599

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Nature of design work Key documents Common uncertainties

Design methodology Safety factor Critical review

Characteristics of better and poorer design studies

 E.g. relationship between factors in distillation column design Geometry Operation

In this unit well distinguish between three facets Process design Operational design Mechanical design See also Martyn Rays view of design on Blackboard and the handout from R&S
(Woods, p92-93)

Memo 1 Memo 2 Memo 3

In general, dont revise Vol 1 based on the results of Vol 2 (but discuss potential effects in the Vol 2 critical reviews)

Volume 2
Major A Minor A Major B Minor B Sets the conditions and specifications for the individual designs in Vol 2 Major C

Corrected, revised, expanded become

Volume 1

...

Methodology is the overall approach taken to perform the design work, expressed as a series of steps
Actual equations are not usually mentioned Rather: Calculate X, Decide Y, Check Z, ...

Simple distillation columns, heat exchangers, have readily available and well-established design methodologies, e.g.
Distillation columns: T&S, Ch11; Ludwig, Vol2; GPSA, Sec19 Heat exchangers: T&S, Ch12; Ludwig, Vol3; GPSA, Sec811

Some aspects of design are covered by Codes and Standards, e.g.

AS1210: Australian Standard for Pressure Vessels covering mechanical design of unfired vessels and their supports, manufacture, testing, safety systems AS4041: Australian Standard for Pressure Piping covering mechanical design of process piping, manufacture, testing, safety systems

(T&S, p845)

The library is your friend

Catalogue(s), databases, interlibrary loans (?), document delivery (??), + Perrys Old books, Google images, manufacturers brochures, journals perhaps,

Try to get drawings or photos of the equipment

Ask your industry / academic advisor + look at the R&S handout What are the key issues and main phenomena involved?
Tease them apart then think how they are connected

Go back to the fundamentals: mass and energy balances, rate equations Dont wait, make a start! If some data are very uncertain, pick a value and check sensitivities If you dont have much depth in one area of your design, then focus on another but get confirmation with your academic advisor

An amount of overdesign / over-sizing to allow for

Uncertainties in design methods Uncertainties in design data Need for operation above nominal specs (nominal = the flows and conditions in your stream tables) Making the equipment a bit bigger to be sure it can handle the required duty Making the equipment so big that it becomes too costly Increase the units feed stream flowrate(s) by x% Increase performance specifications by y% Reduce the efficiency / increase area / increase number of trays / by z%

A balance between

Can be implemented in several ways, e.g.

Ask your industry / academic advisor

(P&T, p81-84; T&S, p17-18; Hills, Ch4)

The safety factor (and its implementation) must be clearly reported Should check that operation at the nominal flowrate is acceptable, e.g.

Nominal heat exchanger flow is 30 kg/s for one stream Use design factor of 10% on the flowrate design the HX for a flow of 33 kg/s But, in normal operation the flow will be only 30 kg/s This means the operating OHTC will be lower than design conditions (since lower v lower h and higher Rfouling) Will the HX still work with a lower OHTC? Need to check!

Can be 0%, but 10% is typical (and see next slide)

(P&T, p81-84; T&S, p17-18; Hills, Ch4)

(P&T, p82)

Its a self-critique of your design work and decisions It is not a summary of the design produced ( 0/10) Needed in both major and minor individual design studies Its an instance of reflective practice, which is valued by Engineers Australia What one student said:
Taking a step back and reflecting on the project was an unfamiliar experience. For the major design project my state of mind has been down and in the trenches focusing on what needs to be done next with no self-reflection. Analysing my work with a self-critique point of view was fairly engaging, I learnt a lot about myself and my approach to problem solving

Re-evaluate your assumptions Discuss the limitations of the design methods used Discuss how uncertainties were handled Compare your design with designs in the literature Discuss your reservations about the work and also your reasons for having confidence in it Outline any experimental work or further simulation work that should be performed Discuss what you would do differently if you had to do it again Discuss optimisation possibilities Reflect on the most important issues or key parameters uncovered in designing that type of unit

What were the good points of your design work? What are the good features of your approach you want to tell people about? What parts need more attention? What are your reservations about the design youve come up with? What extra information would you have liked? How exactly would you have made use of it? How did you cope with not having all the information you wanted? Did you find anything unexpected? Did you use any innovative design methods or technology? Did you do some extra work that most other people did not? Your final design might be different and perform differently from the equipment envisaged in Volume 1. How would these differences affect the rest of the process?

Accuracy of data, and its implications, sensitivities

Time scales (short, long), dynamics, startup / shutdown

Alternative approaches

Assumptions, approximations, limitations in methods used

Etc. Thermodynamics (VLE method, ) Reactions (species, stoichiometry, equilibria, kinetics, ) Hydrodynamics (well mixed, plug flow, ) Heat transfer (mode, rate equation, losses, ) Mass transfer (driving force, interfacial area, ) Peripherals (pumps, pipes, tanks, ) Interactions with rest of plant (upstream, downstream) Etc.

Recommendations

Key issues uncovered, unexpected items

Better designs

Have clear scope, design requirements, methodology Focus on process and operational design Are strongly quantitative Include peripherals Show evidence of checking Have professional looking equipment spec sheets, mechanical drawings, Have a thoughtful critical review

Poorer designs

Forget to mention these things

Focus on mechanical design because there are lots of equations Seem to be mostly qualitative Ignore the vessels pipes, pumps, Are presented as is Documents look homemade, as if the designer had not seen examples before Leave out the critical review or write it as a summary

The major and minor studies need to be decided upon and stated in Memo 3 Work on your major and minor studies in parallel
Keep Volume 1 revisions ticking over as well

In consultation with fellow group members and your academic (and possibly industry) advisor

Dont spend forever trying to get that last piece of data: pick a value and proceed Look carefully at the scope of work to make sure you dont leave anything out Keep in contact with your academic and industry advisors you dont just need them in Weeks 16

GPSA: Gas Processors Suppliers Association (2004) Engineering Data Book, 12ed, Gas Processors Suppliers Association, Tulsa, OK Ludwig: EE Ludwig (2007) Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants, 3ed, Gulf Professional Publishing, Houston, TX Perry: RH Perry and DW Green (eds) (2008) Perry's Chemical Engineers Handbook, 8ed, McGraw-Hill, New York P&T: MS Peters, KD Timmerhaus and RE West (2003) Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers, 5 ed, McGraw-Hill, New York R&S: MS Ray and MG Sneesby (1998) Chemical Engineering Design Project: A Case Study Approach, 2ed, Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, Amsterdam T&S: G Towler and R Sinnott (2008) Chemical Engineering Design: Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, MA Woods: DR Woods (2007) Rules of Thumb in Engineering Practice, WileyVCH, Weinheim, Germany

Principles, Practice and Economics of Plant and Process Design,