BITS, PILANI – K. K.

BIRLA GOA CAMPUS

PROCESS DIAGRAMS IN PROCESS

ENGINEERING
2017 - 2018
PROF. SRINIVAS KRISHNASWAMY
ASSOCIATE PROF. & HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
BITS PILANI, K. K. BIRLA GOA CAMPUS
Lecture information

 M W F : 11:00 am

 Instructor for Tutorial: Prof. Srinivas

Krishnaswamy

 Tutorial timings: Friday 8:00 am

(A605)

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What is Process Engineering / Design

 Starting from a vaguely defined need, developing an

understanding of the important underlying physical
sciences relevant to the problem behind the need, and
use of this understanding to create a plan of action and a
set of detailed specifications which will lead to solving
that need in a economically and environmentally viable
manner

 The process part and the engineering part

 Constraints

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Design Objectives and Basis

 Setting a set of design objectives is the first

step from the vaguely defined need
 Design basis could be physical like capacities of
plants, etc.
 It could be commercial like profitability
involved
 It could be social like fulfilling a need of society
at large

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Structure of a chemical project
 Specification initial evaluation
 Material and energy balances preliminary cost estimation
 Piping and instrumentation detailed process design and
engineering data
 Piping, instruments, vessels, heat exchangers, process
equipment, utilities
 Basic Process package, Basic engineering package TTD

 Detailed engineering
 Project phase
 Where does the content of our course come in???

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 Diagrams for understanding Chemical
Processes
 Wide variety of Products and hence too many processes

 But then complexities are also high

 High reactivity, high toxicity, high corrosivity

 Safety hazards, environmental damage, people’s health

 Common language for communication

 Maintanence and Operation overall in a smooth manner

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 Diagrams for understanding Chemical
Processes
Visual information is the clearest way to present
material and is least likely to be
misinterpreted
The most effective way of communicating
information about a process is through the use
of flow diagrams

These diagrams evolve from the time a process is

conceived in the laboratory through the design,
construction, and the many years of plant operation.
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 Case Study

This study describes a representative case history

related to the development of a new chemical
process. It shows how teams of engineers work
together to provide a plant design and introduces the
types of diagrams that will be explored in this chapter

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Case Study

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Case Study

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Case Study

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 Challenges
 Time (2 – 3 years): Conceptualization to start up
 Economics: Millions of dollars; smooth operation
takes care of the cost of investment
 Unforeseen changes during operation: Raw
materials, product specifications, production rates,
equipment performance, cost of utilities,
environmental regulations, new technologies
We concentrate on three diagrams that are important to
chemical engineers: block flow, process flow, and piping and
instrumentation diagrams. Of these three diagrams, we will find
that the most useful to chemical engineers is the PFD.
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Need for PFD and P&ID

 Immediate information on requirement of raw

materials and utilities (when project is
conceived)

 Move into more sequential manner through

development of a flowsheet

 3 levels

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3 levels of Flow diagram
 Block Flow Diagram (BFD) : Simple

 Process Flow Diagram (PFD) : data in sequential order

 Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) – often referred to

as Mechanical Flow Diagram (for smooth operation)

Complexity Conceptual
increases understanding
Increases

As chemical engineers, we are most familiar with BFD and PFD.

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The Block Flow Diagram (BFD)

 Introduced early in the Chemical Engineering curriculum

(Process Calculations)

 Word Problem to pictorial form of a kind

 Series of blocks representing different equipment or unit

operations that were connected by input and output
streams
 Important information such as operating temperatures,
pressures, conversions, and yield was included on the
diagram along with flowrates and some chemical
compositions.
 However, the diagram did not include any details of
equipment within any of the blocks.
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The Block Flow Diagram (BFD)

 BFD shows overall processing picture of a

chemical complex
 Flow of raw materials and products may be
included on a BFD
 BFD is a superficial view of facility – ChE
information is missing
 Not detailed, useful in early stages
 Gives a feel for the process and leads to a
PFD; screening alternatives
The Block Flow Process Diagram
The Block Flow Process Diagram

 What reactor?
 Temperature, Pressure
 Mixed Gas composition
 How much recycle?
 What kind of distillation column, Reflux & reboiler ratio?
 Purity of Benzene at the outlet

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The Block Flow Plant Diagram
The Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

 PFD shows all process engineering information

(quantum jump)
 Diagram developed in junior year design
projects (especially the 2nd semester) \
 Often PFD is drawn on large paper – textbook
breaks down information into 1 diagram and
2 tables
 No Universal standards for any diagrams
 The Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

The PFD contains the bulk of the chemical

engineering data necessary for the design of a
chemical process

The PFD from one company will probably contain

slightly different information than the PFD for the
same process from another company

 It is fair to say that most PFDs convey very similar

information

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 The Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

 All the major pieces of equipment in the process will be

represented on the diagram along with a description of the
equipment. Each piece of equipment will have assigned a
unique equipment number and a descriptive name
 All process flow streams will be shown and identified by a
number. A description of the process conditions and chemical
composition of each stream will be included. These data will
be either displayed directly on the PFD or included in an
accompanying flow summary table
 All utility streams supplied to major equipment that provides
a process function will be shown

COMPLEX DIAGRAM MADE WITH SUBSTANTIAL EFFORT

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The Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

The location of and

interaction between equipment and process streams are
referred to as the Process Topology
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The Process Flow Diagram (PFD):
Process Topology

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The Process Flow Diagram

Flowrate of each stream (for continuous processes) and quantity of

each reactant for batch processes

 Composition of streams
 Operating conditions
 Heat added or removed
 Flow utilities
 Major equipments, symbols and identification
 Any other information for understanding process

Diff. at lab and pilot scale

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PFD Drawing Symbols
The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d)

Process Equipment General Format XX-YZZ A/B

XX are the identification letters for the equipment
classification
C - Compressor or Turbine
E - Heat Exchanger
H - Fired Heater
Table 1.2 : Conventions
P - Pump Used for Identifying Process
R - Reactor Equipment

T - Tower
TK - Storage Tank
V - Vessel
Y designates an area within the plant
ZZ are the number designation for each item in an equipment class
A/B identifies parallel units or backup units not shown on a PFD
Additional description of equipment given on top of PFD
The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d)

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The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d)

Thus, T-905 is the 5th tower in unit nine

hundred P-301 A/B is the 1st Pump in unit
three hundred plus a spare
 Use unambiguous letters for new equipment
 Ex. Turbine use Tb or J not T (for tower)

 Replace old vessel V-302 with a new one of

different design - use V-319 (say) not V-

302 – since it may be confused with original
V-302
The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d):
Example 1.1

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 STREAM
INFORMATION

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The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d)

For small diagrams containing only a few operations, the

characteristics of the streams such as temperatures, pressures,
compositions, and flowrates can be shown directly on the figure,
adjacent to the stream. This is not practical for a more complex
diagram. In this case, only the stream number is provided on the
diagram. This indexes the stream to information on a flow summary
or stream table, which is often provided below the process flow
diagram. In this text the flow summary table is provided as a
separate attachment to the PFD.

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The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d):
Stream Information

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The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d):
Stream Information

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The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d):
Equipment Information

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Symbols for Stream Identification
(Flags)
The Process Flow Diagram (Flags)

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The Process Flow Diagram (cont’d)

 Number streams from left to right

as much as possible
 Horizontal lines are dominant

yes no no
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The Process Flow Diagram (Flags)

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Piping & instrumentation Diagram
 Also called Mechanical flow diagram
 Information needed by engineers to begin
planning construction of the plant

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Piping & instrumentation Diagram

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Piping & instrumentation Diagram

Each PFD will require

many P&IDs to provide
the necessary data.

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 Conventions Used for
Identifying Instrumentation
on P&IDs (ISA standard ISA-
S5-1)

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Problem

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Objective Assesment

 Understanding concepts of process engineering

challenges

 Understand concept of process diagrams

 Understand Process Block diagrams, Process

Flow diagrams and P & ID’s diagrams

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