TABLE OF CONTENTS Process design designates the Chemical Engineering development aspects of a process plant. This is augmented by the classical related engineering disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical, Civil along with others, which provide constraints as to the availability and feasibility of industrial equipment, electrical hazards and siting issues covered in Chapter 10. Clearly, issues such as single or multiple trains; equipment topological aspects (layout); industrial availability of machinery; heat exchangers and process towers and reactors; influence and interact with the process design.
The design of a large process plant, or plant modification or extension is a complex activity involving engineers of many disciplines. The design process normally involves engineering organizations and expertise other than the operating company. This aspect is considered in Section 11.2, Conceptual Design, or in the current parlance of the industry front-end engineering.
The project evolves under the influence of: research and development, which define the technical possibilities and constraints; safety, health and environmental studies, which lead to further constraints; economic studies, which indicate the productions costs and sales returns together with their sensitivity to the various factors; and the financial approvals, which allow the project to proceed. The political, social and environmental issues at the location must be recognized. An overall risk of the plant to the community must be developed and agreed with the appropriate local, state and federal authorities before further process design can proceed. This will largely comply with regulations and avoid a Bhopal-type catastrophe. The infrastructure available will dictate whether the design...
