Week-1, Lecture-1 An Introduction

Shabina Khanam
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering

1
 Chemical Equipment Design

The mechanical design is required for the fabrication,

erection, installation and commissioning of the equipment.
The purpose of this course is to present the methods and
the procedures adopted in the mechanical design of
process equipment. The emphasis here is not so much on
the study of actual process, but on specifying the
functioning and operation of the equipment and also on the
choices of material of construction and strength
considerations.

2
 Chemical Equipment Design

Projects in chemical engineering, which require designing can be divided

into three types:

• Modifications and addition of the existing plant.

• Increasing the capacity of the existing plant.
• Development of a new process based on laboratory research and pilot
plant study.

Each piece of equipment is expected to serve a specific function.

Conditions such as temperature, pressure, etc., under which the
equipment is expected to perform are specified by the process
requirements.

3
 Concept of a Chemical Industry
The process design hierarchy can be represented by “onion
Onion Diagram diagram” as

1
2
S
e 3
p 4
e Reactor
F r
Reactor
a
t Separator
F+P o
r Heat exchange
network
Utilities

Site-Wide
Utilities
 Concept of a Chemical Industry-Onion Diagram
Main points from onion diagram
1
The design of a process starts with the reactors (in the 2
“core” of the onion). 3
4
Once feeds, products, recycle concentrations and flow Reactor
rates are known, the separators (the second layer of the
Separator
onion) can be designed.
Heat exchange
The basic process heat and material balance is now in network

place, and the heat exchanger network (the third layer) Utilities

can be designed.
Site-Wide
The remaining heating and cooling duties are handled by the Utilities
utility system (the fourth layer). The process utility system may
be a part of a centralized site wide utility system.
 Equipment Classification
Classification of the chemical equipment is generally based on the
particular type of the unit operation or unit processes. Each equipment is
designed to carry out a specific unit operations such as distillation,
evaporation, filtration, etc., as also processes such as hydrogenation,
chlorination, etc. Equipment may also be classified to emphasize certain
common features, which require similar design procedures. Such
classification leads to three groups:

Pressure vessel group: This group of equipment has a cylindrical or

spherical vessel as the main component, which has to withstand
variations of pressure and temperature, in addition to other loading
conditions. The design procedure, therefore, involves satisfying a number
of criteria involving the different loading conditions.

6
 Equipment Classification
Structural group: This group consists of equipment or components, which are
stationary and have to sustain not only the dead load but also natural
phenomena like earthquakes. These are generally made up of structural sections
and must satisfy conditions of elastic and structural stability.

Group involving rotational motion: This group covers equipment or components

where rotational motion is necessary to satisfy process requirements. A drive
system and power supply are the essential features. Considerations of torque,
dynamic stresses, apart from other loading conditions form the basis of design.

Type of equipment, under design consideration, may not strictly belong to only
one group, but may have features involving combination of the above groups. In
such cases, it may be possible to design components belonging to each group
independently and then combine them to form complete equipment.

7
 Pressure vessel
Chemical processes require the handling and storing of large quantities of
materials such as liquids and gases in containers, or “vessel”. It is the
basic part of most types of processing equipment. Most process
equipment units may be considered to be vessels with various
modifications necessary to enable the units to perform certain required
functions. For example, an autoclave may be considered to be a high-
pressure vessel equipped with agitation and heating sources; a heat
exchanger may be considered to be a vessel containing a suitable
provision for the transfer of heat through tube walls.

All vessels, pipe lines and the like for carrying, storing or receiving steam,
gases or liquids at pressures above/below to the atmospheric pressure.
 Selection of type of vessel
The first step in the design of any vessel is the selection of the best suited type for
the particular service in question.
The primarily factors influencing this choice are: the functional and location of
vessel, the nature of the fluid, the operating temperature and pressure, and
necessary volume for storage or capacity for processing.
Vessels may be classified according to functional service, temperature and pressure
service, materials of construction, or geometry of the vessel.
The most common type of vessels may be classified according to their geometry as:
a. Open tanks.
b. Flat-bottomed, vertical cylindrical tanks.
c. Vertical cylindrical and horizontal vessels with formed ends.
d. Spherical vessels.
 Selection of type of vessel
The range of service for various types of vessels overlaps, and it is difficult to
make distinct classification for all applications.
Some generalities in the existing uses of common types of vessels are:
• Large volume of non-hazardous liquids such as brine and other aqueous
solutions, may be stored in ponds if it is of low cost, or in open steel, wooden or
concrete tanks if it is of greater value.
• If the fluid is toxic, combustible or gaseous in the storage condition, or if the
pressure is greater than atmospheric, a closed system is required.
• For storage of fluids at atmospheric pressure, cylindrical tanks with flat bottoms
and conical roofs are commonly used.
• Spheres are employed for pressure storage where the volume required is large.
• For smaller volumes under pressure, cylindrical tanks with formed head are
more economical.
 Selection of type of vessel
Open Vessels
Open vessels are commonly used as surge tanks between operations, as
vats for batch operations where materials may be mixed and blended, as
settling tanks, decanters, chemical reactors, reservoirs, and so on.
Obviously, this type of vessel is cheaper than covered or closed vessels of
the same capacity and construction. The decision as to whether or not open
vessels may be used depends upon the fluid to be handled and the operation.

In food and pharmaceutical industries, it is often necessary to add materials

to open vessels in the preparation of mixtures. Small open tanks or kettles
are usually employed for such purposes.
 Selection of type of vessel
Closed Vessels
Combustible fluids, fluids emitting toxic or obnoxious
fumes, and gases must be stored in closed vessels.
Dangerous chemicals, such as acid or caustic, are less
hazardous if stored in closed vessels.

The combustible nature of petroleum and its products

necessitates the use of closed and tanks throughout the
petroleum and petrochemicals industries.
Selection of type of vessel

Spherical tank Cylindrical tank

 Concept of a Chemical Industry-Onion Diagram
Equipment to be designed
Utility in Chemical Industry
1 Pressure vessel
2
3
4
Reactor

Separator
Heat exchange
network
Utilities

Site-Wide Utilities
 Components to be designed
All vessels, pipe lines and the like for carrying, storing
Pressure vessel or receiving steam, gases or liquids at pressures
above/below to the atmospheric pressure.
Opening
compensation
Head

Nozzle

Shell

Support
Meaning of Designing
Design Codes: History of pressure vessel codes
 Boiler explosion on March 20, 1905 in Brockton,
Massachusetts.
 58 killed and 117 injured.
 Need of legislative rules and regulation for
construction of boilers.
 The first Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code was
published in 1915.
 Necessary changes made and new sections added
as need arose.
 What is a Code?
• A Code is a standard that has been adopted by one
or more governmental bodies.
• Codes specify requirements of design, fabrication,
inspection and testing of pressure vessels.
• Number of national codes have been developed for
pressure vessels by different countries.
• In India, the code for pressure vessels is IS-2825
Design and Construction Codes for Pressure Vessel
 Design Code to be used
Code No.: IS: 2825-1969

Details: Code for unfired pressure vessels

Remarks: This code does not include the followings:

1. Vessels designed for pressure exceeding 200

kgf/cm2;
2. When Do/Di of the shell exceeds 1.5
Design Code to be used

21
 Equipment Design: Mechanical Aspects
Objectives of this course
 To identify different loads on different parts of pressure
vessel
 To compute thickness of different parts of pressure vessel
 To use standard guidelines proposed for design of pressure
vessel
 References
1 I.S.:2825-1969, “Code for Unfired Pressure Vessels”, 1969.
2 Brownell L. E. and Young H. E., “Process Equipment Design”, John Wiley, 2004.
3 Bhattacharya B. C., “Introduction of Chemical Equipment Design”, CBS Publisher, 2003.
4 Moss D. R., ”Pressure Vessel Design Manual”, 3rd Ed., Gulf, 2004.
5 Mahajani V.V. and Umarji S.B., “Joshi's Process Equipment Design” Laxmi Publications
Pvt. Ltd. 2016.
 Summary of the video
 Importance and utility of the course ‘Equipment
Design: Mechanical Aspects’ is discussed.
 Pressure vessel is defined along with its different
component.
 Types of pressure vessel are discussed.
 Code used for design of pressure vessel is defined.

24
Thank You!

25