1. Class Overview & Introduction
CHEN 4460 – Process Synthesis, Simulation and Optimization
Dr. Mario Richard Eden Department of Chemical Engineering Auburn University
Lecture No. 1 – The Design Process
August 21, 2012
Contains Material Developed by Dr. Daniel R. Lewin, Technion, Israel

2. My Background Background Professional Experience
M.Sc. (Chem. Eng.), Tech. Uni. of Denmark (1999)
Ph.D. (Chem. Eng.), Tech. Uni. of Denmark (2003)
Professional Experience
Department Chair, Auburn University (2012 – Present)
Professor, Auburn University (2012 – Present)
Associate Professor, Auburn University (2008 – 2012)
Assistant Professor, Auburn University (2004 – 2008)
Visiting Lecturer, Auburn University (2002 – 2003)

3. Where is Denmark?

4. A Few Facts about Denmark Where I moved to go to college
Constitutional Monarchy
A little smaller than the state of Alabama (not including Greenland)
Population approximately
National sport – SOCCER!
Where I moved to go to college
My hometown

5. My Research Interests Computer Aided Process Engineering
Property prediction & CAMD for solvent selection/design
Process modeling and simulation
Process/Product Synthesis and Design
Develop novel efficient methods for emerging problems
Develop strategies for simultaneous solution
Systematic identification/generation of alternatives
Process Integration and Optimization
Application of holistic methods to ensure sustainability
Fuels reforming and biorefinery optimization

6. Class Overview 1:3 Lectures (Start Today) Labs (Start Today) Homework
Tuesday 9:30 – 10:20 AM (Ross Hall 136)
Additional recitation lectures during lab sessions
Labs (Start Today)
Sections
I: Tuesday & Thursday 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM (Ross 306)
II: Tuesday & Thursday 6:30 PM - 7:45 PM (Ross 306)
Large part of labs consist of multimedia based instruction
Headphones are available upon request
Homework
Assigned for both lecture and lab parts
Some homework assignments can/should be solved using Aspen

7. Class Overview 2:3 Teaching Assistants Course Materials
Dr. Zheng Liu Mr. Alexander Kelly
Office hours: Wed. 1:00–3:00 PM Office hours: TBA
Ross Location: TBA
Ms. Zhelun Li
Office hours: TBA
Location TBA
Course Materials
Textbook
Seider, W.D., J.D. Seader, D.R. Lewin, S. Widagdo “Product and Process Design Principles”, 3rd edition Wiley (2008).
Eden, M. R. "ASPEN Lab Notes", Auburn University (Posted as PDF on class webpage).

8. Class Overview 3:3 Grading Instructors Office Hours
Simulation Project (10%)
Homework (10%)
Midterm (30%)
Final exam (50%)
Instructors Office Hours
Official: Tuesday 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Reality: Any time the door is open

9. Tentative Class Schedule

10. Tentative Lab Schedule
MM: Multimedia material to review using headphones at your own pace.
MM Tutorials: Perform simulation while following multimedia presentation.

11. Multimedia 1:2
Choice of Simulator Software
Aspen Plus
Hysys
Matlab

12. Multimedia 2:2
Contents
Navigation

13. Lecture 1 – Objectives
Be knowledgeable about the kinds of design decisions that challenge process design teams.
Have an appreciation of the key steps in carrying out a process design. This course, as the course text, is organized to teach how to implement these steps.
Be aware of the many kinds of environmental issues and safety considerations that are prevalent in the design of a new chemical process.
Understand that chemical engineers use a blend of hand calculations, spreadsheets, computer packages, and process simulators to design a process.

14. Lecture 1 – Outline Primitive Design Problems
Example
Steps in Designing/Retrofitting Chemical Processes
Assess Primitive Problem
Process Creation
Development of Base Case
Detailed Process Synthesis - Algorithmic Methods
Process Controllability Assessment
Detailed Design, Sizing, Cost Estimation, Optimization
Construction, Start-up and Operation
Environmental Protection
Safety Considerations

15. Primitive Design Problems
The design or retrofit of chemical processes begins with a desire to produce profitable chemicals that satisfy societal needs in a wide range of areas:
Partly due to the growing awareness of the public, many design projects involve the redesign, or retrofitting, of existing chemical processes to solve environmental problems and to adhere to stricter standards of safety.
petrochemicals
petroleum products
industrial gases
foods
pharmaceuticals
polymers
coatings
electronic materials
bio-chemicals

16. Origin of Design Problems
Often, design problems result from the explorations of chemists, biochemists, and engineers in research labs to satisfy the desires of customers to obtain chemicals with improved properties for many applications.
However, several well-known products, like Teflon (poly-tetrafluoroethylene), were discovered by accident.
In other cases, an inexpensive source of a raw material(s) becomes available.
Yet another source of design projects is the engineer himself, who often has a strong inclination that a new chemical or route to produce an existing chemical can be very profitable.

17. Steps in Product/Process Design
Initial Decision
Concept & Feasibility
Development & Manufacturing
Product Introduction

18. Steps in Product/Process Design
Initial Decision

19. Steps in Product/Process Design
Concept & Feasibility

20. Steps in Product/Process Design
Development & Manufacturing

21. Steps in Product/Process Design
Product Introduction

22. Steps in Process Design
Assess Primitive Problem
Detailed Process Synthesis - Algorithmic Methods
Development of Base-case
Plant-wide Controllability Assessment
Detailed Design, Equipment sizing, Cap. Cost Estimation, Profitability Analysis, Optimization

23. Steps in Process Design
Part I
Assess Primitive Problem
Find Suitable Chemicals
Process Creation
Development of Base Case
Part II
Detailed Process Synthesis
Part III
Detailed Design & Optimization
Part IV
Plantwide Controllability

24. Steps in Process Design
PART I
Assess Primitive Problem
Detailed Process Synthesis - Algorithmic Methods
Plant-wide Controllability Assessment
Development of Base-case
Detailed Design, Equipment sizing, Cap. Cost Estimation, Profitability Analysis, Optimization

25. Steps in Process Design

26. Steps in Process Design

27. Assess Primitive Problem
Process design begins with a primitive design problem that expresses the current situation and provides an opportunity to satisfy a societal need.
The primitive problem is examined by a small design team, assessing possibilities, refining the problem statement, and generating more specific problems:
Raw materials - available in-house, can be purchased or need to be manufactured?
Scale of the process (based upon a preliminary assessment of the current production, projected market demand, and current and projected selling prices)
Location for the plant
Brainstorming to generate alternatives.

28. Example: VCM Manufacture
To satisfy the need for an additional 800 MMlb/yr of VCM, the following plausible alternatives might be generated:
Alternative 1. A competitor’s plant, which produces 2 MMM lb/yr of VCM and is located about 100 miles away, might be expanded to produce the required amount, which would be shipped. In this case, the design team projects the purchase price and designs storage facilities.
Alternative 2. Purchase and ship, by pipeline from a nearby plant, chlorine from the electrolysis of NaCl solution. React the chlorine with ethylene to produce the monomer and HCl as a byproduct.
Alternative 3. The company produces HCl as a byproduct in large quantities, thus HCl is normally available at low prices. Reactions of HCl with acetylene, or ethylene and oxygen, could produce 1,2-dichloroethane, an intermediate that can be cracked to produce vinyl chloride.

29. Survey Literature Sources
SRI Design Reports
Encyclopedias
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
Ullman’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
...
Handbooks and Reference Books
Perry’s Chemical Engineers Handbook
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
Indexes
See Auburn University Library
Patents
Internet

30. Steps in Process Design
Assess Primitive Problem
Development of Base-case
Plant-wide Controllability Assessment
Detailed Process Synthesis - Algorithmic Methods
PART II
Detailed Design, Equipment sizing, Cap. Cost Estimation, Profitability Analysis, Optimization

31. Steps in Process Design

32. Steps in Process Design
Assess Primitive Problem
Detailed Process Synthesis - Algorithmic Methods
Development of Base-case
Plant-wide Controllability Assessment
Detailed Design, Equipment sizing, Cap. Cost Estimation, Profitability Analysis, Optimization
PART III

33. Steps in Process Design

34. Environmental Issues 1:2
Handling of toxic wastes
97% of hazardous waste generation by the chemicals and nuclear industry is wastewater (1988 data).
In process design, it is essential that facilities be included to remove pollutants from waste-water streams.
Reaction pathways to reduce by-product toxicity
As the reaction operations are determined, the toxicity of all of the chemicals, especially those recovered as byproducts, needs to be evaluated.
Pathways involving large quantities of toxic chemicals should be replaced by alternatives, except under unusual circumstances.
Reducing and reusing wastes
Environmental concerns place even greater emphasis on recycling, not only for unreacted chemicals, but for product and by-product chemicals, as well. (i.e., production of segregated wastes - e.g., production of composite materials and polymers).

35. Environmental Issues 2:2
Avoiding non-routine events
Reduce the likelihood of accidents and spills through the reduction of transient phenomena, relying on operation at the nominal steady-state, with reliable controllers and fault-detection systems.
Design objectives, constraints and optimization
Environmental goals often not well defined because economic objective functions involve profitability measures, whereas the value of reduced pollution is often not easily quantified economically.
Solutions: mixed objective function (“price of reduced pollution”), or express environmental goal as “soft” or “hard” constraints.
Environmental regulations = constraints

36. Safety Issues Flammability Limits of Liquids and Gases
LFL and UFL (vol %) in Air at 25 oC and 1 Atm
These limits can be extended for mixtures, and for elevated temperatures and pressures.
With this kind of information, the process designer makes sure that flammable mixtures do not exist in the process during startup, steady-state operation, or shut-down.

37. Design for Safety Techniques to Prevent Fires and Explosions
Inerting - addition of inert dilutant to reduce the fuel concentration below the LFL
Installation of grounding devices and anti-static devices to avoid the buildup of static electricity
Use of explosion proof equipment
Ensure ventilation - install sprinkler systems
Relief Devices
Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment
The plant is scrutinized to identify sources of accidents or hazards.
Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study is carried out, in which all of the possible paths to an accident are identified.
When sufficient probability data are available, a fault tree is created and the probability of the occurrence for each potential accident computed.

38. Summary – The Design Process
Steps in Designing and Retrofitting Chemical Processes
Assess Primitive Problem – Covered Today (SSLW p. 1-31)
Process Creation – Next Week (SSLW p , )
Development of Base Case
Detailed Process Synthesis - Algorithmic Methods
Process Controllability Assessment
Detailed Design, Sizing, Cost Estimation, Optimization
Construction, Start-up and Operation
Environmental Protection
Environmental regulations = design constraints
Safety Considerations
Should strive to design for “inherently safe plants”

39. Final Comments Capabilities upon Completion of this Class
How to simulate complete flowsheets and predict their performance.
How to identify best achievable performance targets for a process WITHOUT detailed calculations.
How to systematically enhance yield, maximize profit, maximize resource conservation, reduce energy, and prevent pollution?
How to debottleneck a process?
How to choose units and screen their performance?
How to understand the BIG picture of a process and use it to optimize any plant?
And much more….. 

40. Other Business Lab Next Lecture – August 28 Class Webpage
Starts today in Ross 306
Aspen notes are available online and could be made available for purchase at Engineering Duplicating Services if desired
Headphones can be checked out with me or in the lab
Multimedia software is located under “Chemical Engineering Apps”
Next Lecture – August 28
Process Creation (SSLW p , )
Class Webpage