AnAppliedGuideto ProcessandPlantDesign
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Preface
Iamahighlyexperiencedpracticalprofessionalprocessengineerwhohasdesigned, commissioned,andundertakentroubleshootingofmanyprocessplants,andmentored andtrainedmanyotherprofessionalengineersinhowtodothesethings.Ihavealso beenauniversityprofessorwhohastaughtprocessplantdesigntoundergraduatesand postgraduatesforanumberofyears.ThishasrequiredmetoreflectuponwhatI knowaboutthesubject,howIknowit,andhowIcanteachittosomeoneelse.In thisbookIwillassumetheroleoftheexperiencedengineer,whotakesluckygraduate chemicalengineersbythehandintheirfirstjobortwoandshowsthemwhatengineeringisreallyabout.Manyarenotsoluckyastohaveexpertguidance.
(Isay “lucky” becausesomanyengineeringgraduatesnevergettoworkasengineers,andthosewhodomayworkinplaceswheremoreseniorengineersareeither absentorunwillingtohelp.)
IndoingsoIwilltakethefairlyinformaltoneIdowhenundertakingthattaskin person,andmayonoccasionexpressmyfrustrationwiththewaythesubjectistaught inUK(andtothebestofmyknowledgeworldwide)highereducation.Afterall,itis notpossibletodescribehowsomethingmightbeimprovedwithoutacknowledging thatthepresentsituationislessthanperfect.Imayalsoexpresstheoddopinionand, asthisisadistillationofexperienceratherthanascientificpaper,Imaynotnecessarily offerreferencestopeer-reviewedjournalarticlesinsupportoftheseopinions. However(despitetheinformalstyleofwriting),themorecontroversialorprovocative anopinionexpressed,themoreeffortIhaveputintomakingsurethatitisheldby themajorityofprofessionalprocessplantdesigners.Towardthisend,thisbookhas nowbeenreviewed,addedto,andimprovedbyhundredsofprofessionalengineers acrosssectorsandworldwide.Manyoftheideaswhichseemcontroversialinacademic circleshavebeenthesubjectofarticlesIhavewrittenforvariousengineeringpublications,andonsocialmedia,wheretheyhavebeenmetwithconsistentlypositive professionalcomment.Theyhaveveryoftenhoweverbeensubjecttostrongnegative feedbackfromacademics,includingcallstobanthisbookandallegationsthatit constitutedprofessionalmisconductonmyparttoholdandexpresstheseviews,which mightbeconsidered “injurioustoacademics.” Althoughthesecametonothing,I admitInowfearacademiamaybealostcause.Maybeprofessionalengineersshould focusoncorrectingmisunderstandingsandteachingthethingsacademiacannotorwill not,ratherthantryingtopreventthematsource.
Thefoundationofthisbookispractice,nottheory.ThroughoutthetextIwill, however,offerquotationsfromothers,linkstobooksandeven,onoccasion,primary
literature.Theseshouldnotbemisunderstoodasthebasisofmyopinions.Inthecase ofquotations,Iamsimplyquotingpeoplewhoagreewithme.Suggestionsfor FurtherReadingarereferencedtoavoidmyhavingtoreproducethecontentofthese often-weightybooksorreinventthewheel.
Acknowledgments
Iwouldliketothankallofthosewhohavehelpedme,especiallymywife, Annemarie.Herpatientassistanceandsurehandwithlanguagehavebeenessentialin thepreparationofthisbook.
Myfellowengineershavegivengenerouslyoftheirtimeinhelpingmetomake surethatwhatIhavewrittenrepresentsconsensusopinion,mostnotablythistime(in additiontothoseIacknowledgedinthefirstedition):JamesTrevelyan,Graeme Trotter,CharlesSanderson,RahulChavan,RickRhead,MorganRodwell,Tim Highfield,MartinArmstrong,SteveLancaster,DeryckCoetzer,ShoaibWangde, NicolasCapon,StevenWoolley,WarwickBagnall,TitiOliyide,CesarPuma, StephenKirby,PaulRichards,RobertSeitz,JonBrooking,PatKinsella,andJustin Jetmar.
Iamalsogratefultothosewhohavekindlyallowedmetoreproduceimagesand material,includingSophieBrouilletatAMOT,DoosanEnpure,JohnEvansatthe formerOlympicDeliveryAuthority,KerryHarrisatAUMA,TomHuddle,Ernest KochmannatNewsonGale,RazibKhan,MalcolmLedgeratLechler,IanAndrewsat SLRConsulting,EdwardLuckiewicz,FionaMacraeatCrowcon,GlennMillerat Grundfos,RossPhilipsattheEEMUA,KeithPlumb,JenniferReevesatElfab,Henry Sandler,ToshSinghatLutz-Jesco(GB)Ltd.,MikeWainwrightatAscendant,and KirstyWarrenatWRAP.
Processplantdesign
Introduction
Whilethismaynotbeasobvioustotoday’sstudentsofthesubjectasitshouldbe, chemicalengineeringisakindofengineering,ratherthanabranchofchemistry. Similarly,professionalengineeringdesignpracticehasnexttonothingtodowiththe thingcalledprocessdesigninmanyuniversitychemicalengineeringdepartments.I willcoverthereasonsforthiselsewhere,butfirstlet’sstartbydispellingsomeconfusion,byclearingupwhatengineeringis(andisnot),andwhatdesignisallabout.
Whatisengineering?
Istillfeelgladtoemphasizetheduty,thedefiningcharacteristicofthepurescientist probablytobefoundworkinginuniversities whocommitthemselvesabsolutelytospecialized goals,toseekthepurestmanifestationofanypossiblephenomenonthattheyareinvestigating,tocreatelaboratoriesthatarefarmorecontrolledthanwewouldeverfindinindustry, andtoignoreanyconstraintsimposedby,asitwere,realism.
Furtherdownthescale,peoplewhounderstandandwanttoexploitresultsofbasicscience havetodoagreatdealmoreworktoadaptandselecttheresults,andcombinetheresults fromdifferentsources,toproducesomethingthatisapplicable,useful,andprofitableonan acceptabletimescale.
C.A.R.Hoare
Engineersarethosepeople “furtherdownthescale” asHoare(theclassicistand philosopher)putsit,althoughIdisagreethatwe “exploittheresultsofbasicscience.” Ourprofessionstandsonotherfoundations,thoughwemayhavebeentaughtsomethingdifferentinuniversity.
Inacademiathereisalmostuniversalconfusionbetweenmathematics,applied mathematics,science,appliedscience,engineeringscience,andengineering.Allowme tounconfuseanyonesoconfusedbeforewegetstarted.
Mathematicsisabranchofphilosophy.Itisahumanconstruction,withnoempiricalfoundation.Itismadeofideas,andhasnothingtodowithreality.Itisonly “true” withinitsownconventions.Thereisnosuchthinginnatureasatruecircle,andeven arithmetic(despiteitsgreatutility)isnotfactuallybased.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814860-0.00002-1
Appliedmathematicsusesmathematicaltoolstoaddresssomerealproblem.Thisis thewayengineersusemathematics,butmanyengineersuseEnglishtoo.Engineering isnomoreappliedmathematicsthanitisappliedEnglish.
Scienceistheactivityoftryingtounderstandnaturalphenomena.Theactivityis ratherlessdoctrinaireandrigidthanphilosophersofsciencewouldhaveusbelieve, andmaywellnotfollowwhattheycallthescientificmethod,butitisaboutexplainingandperhapspredictingnaturalphenomena.
Appliedscienceistheapplicationofscientificprinciplestonaturalphenomenato solvesomereal-worldproblem.Engineersmightdothis(thoughmostlytheydonot) butthatdoesn’tmakeitengineering.
Engineeringscienceistheapplicationofscientificprinciplestothestudyofengineeringartifacts.Theclassicexampleofthisisthermodynamics,inventedtoexplain thesteamengine,whichwasdevelopedwithoutsupportingscience.
ScienceowesmoretothesteamenginethanthesteamengineowestoScience.
L.J.Henderson
Thisisthekindofsciencewhichengineerstendtoapply.Itistheproductofthe applicationofsciencetothethingsengineersworkwith,artificialconstructionsrather thannature.
Engineeringisacompletelydifferentkindofthingfromallprecedingcategories.It istheprofessionofimaginingandbringingintobeingacompletelynewartifactwhich achievesaspecifiedaimsafely,cost-effectively,androbustly.Itmaymakeuseofmathematicsandscience,butsodoesmedicineifwesubstitutethecongruent “medicalscience ” for “engineeringscience.” Ifengineeringwassimplytheapplicationofthese subjects,wecouldhaveamore-or-lesscommonfirstandsecondyearforbothmedical andengineeringcourses,nevermindthevariousengineeringdisciplines.
Adegreewhichischaracterizedbyresearcher-ledapproachesisanidealpreparation forpostgraduateresearch,butfarlesssoforindustry.Uff(seeFurtherReading)has reportedthatthereis “adisconnectbetweenHigherEducation(HE)providersand industryintermsofcapturingemployers’ requirements,willingnesstosatisfythose requirementsandcompetencetosatisfythem.Thiswasespeciallysoinresearchintensiveuniversitieswhoseacademicsarearmedwithaparticularsetofskills....The viewisexpressedthattoomanyuniversitiesfocusonresearchoutputsasasuccessmeasure,ratherthanontheirprimaryroletoproducethegraduatesthatindustryandthe economyneed.” Asaresult,today’sstudentsconsistentlyreportsurpriseathowlittleof theirjobsafteruniversityarethe “properengineering” theylearnedatuniversity.
Nowthatweareclearaboutwhatengineeringis,letusconsiderwhatdesignis.
Whatisdesign?
Ratherthanbeingsomeexoticprovinceofpolo-neckedprofessionals,theabilityto designisanaturalhumanability.Designersimagineanimprovementonrealityasitis,
wethinkofanumberofwayswemightachievetheimprovement,weselectoneof them,andwetransmitourintentiontothosewhoaretorealizeourplan.Thedocumentswithwhichwetransmitourintentionsare,however,justameanstotheultimateendofdesign theimprovementonrealityitself.
Iwilldiscussinthisbookaratherspecializedversionofthisability,butweshould notlosesightofthefactthatdesignisinessencethesameprocess,whetherweare designingaprocessplant,avacuumcleaner,oraweddingcake.
Designerstakeareal-worldproblemwhichsomeoneiswillingtoexpendresources toresolve.Theyimaginesolutionstothatproblem,chooseoneofthosesolutions basedonsomesetofcriteria,andprovideadescriptionofthesolutiontothecraftsmenwhowillrealizeit.Iftheymissthislaststageandifthedesignisnotrealized, theywillneverknowwhetheritwouldhaveworkedastheyhadhoped.
Alldesignersneedtoconsidertheresourceimplicationsoftheirchoices,thelikelihoodthattheirsolutionwillbefitforthepurposeforwhichitisintended,and whetheritwillbesafeevenifitnotusedexactlyasintended.
Ifengineersbringalittlemorerigortotheirdecision-makingthancakedesigners, itisbecauseanengineer’sdesignchoicescanhavelife-and-deathimplications,and almostalwaysinvolveverylargefinancialcommitments.
Sohowdoesengineeringdesigndifferfromotherkindsofdesign?
Engineeringdesign
Engineeringproblemsareunder-defined,therearemanysolutions,good,badandindifferent. Theartistoarriveatagoodsolution.Thisisacreativeactivity,involvingimagination, intuitionanddeliberatechoice.
Likealldesigners,designengineershavetodreamuppossiblewaystosolve problemsandchoosebetweenthem.Engineersdifferfrom,say,fashiondesignersin thattheyhaveawidervarietyoftoolstohelpthemchoosebetweenoptions.
Likealldesigners,theengineer’spossiblesolutionswillincludeapproachestosimilaroranalogousproblemswhichtheyhaveseentowork.Oneofthereasonswhy beginnersareinferiortoexpertsistheirlackofqualitativeknowledgeofthemany waysinwhichtheirkindofproblemscanbesolvedand,moreimportantstill,those wayswhichhavebeentriedandfoundwanting.
Engineersneedtomakesuretheyareansweringtherightquestion.Forexample,a UKmissileprogramcalled “BlueStreak” wasaclassicengineeringfailurebecausethe problemwasnotcorrectlystated.Itwasdesignedtobealong-rangemissilefor nuclearwarheads,butthemissilehadtobefueledimmediatelybeforelaunchandit took30minutestodothis.Hencethemissilewasuselessfortheintendedpurpose,as itwasnotcapableofsufficientlyrapiddeployment.
OveArup
In ToEngineerisHuman,HenryPetroskidiscussestheimportanceofavoidingfailureinengineeringdesign.Manyofhisexamplesoffailure,however,werecausednot bymisspecification,butbydesignerswhoforgotthatthemodelsusedindesignare onlyapproximations,applicableinafairlynarrowrangeofcircumstances.
BillyVaughnKoengoesstillfurthertowardthetruth,whenhepointsoutthat “all isheuristic.” Evenarithmeticisaheuristic.Therearenousefulabsolutetruthsin mathematics,science,orengineering.Thereareonlyapproximations,probabilities, andworkableapproaches.Engineersmayjustbealittleclearerabouttheseissuesthan mathematiciansandscientists,becauseoursolutionsabsolutelyhavetowork.
Projectlifecycle
Thenicheornichesintowhichprocessplantdesignfitsexistinthewiderbackgroundof anengineeringprojectlifecycle.Engineers conceive, design, implement,and operate (CDIO) engineeringsolutions,astheCDIOInitiativeinengineeringeducationpointsout.
Thedetailsofprojectlifecyclesvarybetweenindustries,butthereisacommon core.Take,forexample,thelifecycleforapharmaceuticalproject:
1. Identifytheproblem (astagefrequentlyoverlookedifthereisanassumptionthatthe problemhasalreadybeendefined).Inaddition,problemscanbemis-identified throughfollowingarootcauseanalysisorthroughrelyingontheassumptionsof operatorswhomaynotfullyunderstandtheoperation.
2. Definetheproblem inbusiness,engineering,andscienceterms(startingfrominputs tothedesiredlevelofoutputandproductquality).Notethatforaproblemtobe recognizedbymanagers,itmostlycomesdowntodefiningonhowbusinessis affected.
3. Generateoptions thatprovidepotentialsolutionstotheproblem.
4. Reviewtheoptions againstpredeterminedselectioncriteriaandeliminatethose optionsthatclearlydonotmeettheselectioncriteriaand/orrequisitesafety, health,andenvironmentalstandards.
5. Generatetheconceptualprocessdesign fortheselectedoptions.
6. CommenceFront-EndEngineeringDesign(FEED)studies.Inparallel:
a. Commencedevelopmentworkatlaboratoryscaletoprovidemoredatato refinethebusiness,engineering,andsciencebasisoftheoptions.However, thismaynotbepracticalwherethereisalackofhistoricaldata-e.g.where businessownershiphaschangedduringthelifeofaprocess.
b. CommenceaFEEDstudytoevaluatethepossiblelocations,projecttimescale, andorderofmagnitudeofcost.
c. Developthebusinesscaseatthestrategiclevel.
d. Determineregulatoryrequirementsforproduct/process.
7. Basedontheoutcomesofstep6, reducethenumberofoptions tothosecarriedforwardtothenextlevelofdetail.
8. Commencedetaileddesign.Inparallel:
a. Continuethedevelopmentworkatpilotplantscaleforsettingprocessparametersforoptimaloutputandquality,utilityrequirements(steam,electricity, water,compressedair,etc.)foraunitoutput.
b. Basedinitiallyonthedatafromthelaboratoryandpilotscale,developthe detaileddesignoftheremainingoptionstoallowasanctioncapitalcostestimatetobegeneratedandarefinedprojecttimescale.
c. Continuetodevelopthebusinessscaleleadingtoaprojectsanctionrequestat theappropriatecorporatelevel.
9. Basedontheoutcomesofstep8, selecttheleadoption tobedesignedandinstalled.
10. Inparallel:
a. Continuethedevelopmentworkatthepilotscale.
b. Carryoutthe “designforconstruction” oftheleadoption.A “designfreeze” will almostcertainlyneedtooccurbeforethedevelopmentworkiscomplete.
11. Constructtherequiredinfrastructure,utilities,piping,instrumentation,buildings,etc.,and installtherequiredequipment.
12. Qualify/commissiontheequipment.
13. Commissiontheprocess andverifythattheplantperformsasdesignedandproduces productoftherequiredquality;validatetheprocess.
14. Commenceroutineproduction keepingaclosewatchonqualityconsistencyand output.
15. Improveprocessefficiency basedonqualitativeandquantitativedataandexperience gainedduringroutineproduction.
16. Increasetheplantcapacity makinguseofprocessimprovements,overcomingconstraints,andoptimizationbasedonthedataandexperiencegained;revalidate.
17. Decommissiontheplant attheendoftheprojectlifecycle.
Thepharmaceuticalsectortendstorunmorestagesinparallelthanothersectors butmostofthesestagesexistinallsectors.Theitalicizedtextaboverepresentsthe consensusstagesoftheprocess.
Wheredoesdesignfitintothis?Consultantsmightcallstages1 3aboveplant design.Thosewithabackgroundindesignandbuildcontracting,likeme,usually thinkofdesignasbeingpredominantlywhatthoseinoperatingcompaniescall “ grassrootsdesign,” broadlystages3 10above.Thosewhoworkforoperatingcompanies mightcallstages15and16plantdesign.
Isupposeanargumentcanbemadeforalltheabove,butitshouldbenotedthat beforestep14,verylimiteddesigninformationisavailable.The “designtools” popular inacademiaareusedprofessionallyonlyforstage15/16plantdesign,ratherthanstage 3 10 “grassroots” plantdesignforthisreason.
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