I.

ESSAY
1. What are the three principal types of flowsheet used in the chemical process industries? Discuss
briefly their distinguishing characteristics.

2. Which of the three principal types of flowsheet would one use to:
a. give a group of visiting chemical engineering students an overview of a plants process? Why?
b. make a preliminary capital cost estimate? Why?
c. trace down a fault in a control loop. Why?
3. To which extend are instruments and controls indicated in each of the three types of flowsheets?

4. On which of the three principal types of flowsheets would one expect to find:
a. relief valves?
b. which pipelines need insulation?
c. which control loops are needed for normal operations?
d. rectangle shown rather than symbols that resemble pieces of equipment?
e. whether a controller is to be located in the control room or in the plant?
5. Would you expect the process design to include more PFDs or P&IDs? Why?

6. Discuss briefly the cash flow for industrial operations. Illustrate their interrelationship with each
other.
7. Illustrate the cumulative cash position showing effects of cash flow over the full life cycle for an
industrial operation. Neglect the time value of money.
8. What are the different factors affecting investment and production costs? Discuss briefly.

9. Describe briefly the five (5) types of capital cost estimates.

10. Explain each of the following methods for estimating capital investment.
a. Detailed-item estimate
b. Unit cost estimate
c. Percentage of delivered-equipment cost
d. Lang factors method
11. What cost items are included in the manufacturing and variable cost
II. PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM DESIGN AND CONTROL PROBLEM

1. Liquid is pumped from an elevated vessel through the tube side of a water-cooled heat exchanger. The
liquid flow is controlled by a flow rate controller in the control room. The pumped has a spare. Sketch
a portion of the most detailed principal type of flow diagram that would be used to illustrate this
process.
2. In a process to separate and purify propane from a mixture of propane and hevier straight-chain
saturated hydrocarbons (e.g. n-butane, n-pentane, etc.), the feed stream is fed to the 18th tray of a 24-
tray distillation column. The overhead vapour steam from the column is totally condensed in a water-
cooled heat exchanger prior to being fed to an overhead reflux drum. The light product from the the
drum is sent to the flux pump (which has a spare), and the discharge from the pump is split into two
streams. One of these streams is overhead reflux to the column and is fed back to the column on Tray
1. The second liquid stream from the pump discharge is the overhead product and is sent to storage.

The bottom of the distillation column is used to store the liquid leaving the bottom plate. From the
bottom of the column a liquid stream leaves and is immediately split into two. One stream is the bottom
product, which is sent for further processing in Unit 400. The other stream is sent to a thermo syphon
reboiler where a portion of the stream is vaporized by condensing low pressure stream on the other
sideof the exchanger. The partially vaporized stream from the reboiler is returned to the column just
below the 24th tray. The two phase mixture separates, with the vapour portion passing upward through
the bottom plate to provide the vapour flow in the column. The liquid portion returns to the liquid
accumulated at the bottom of the column.

For the process described above, draw a PFD. You may assume that the process is Unit 200, and you
should identify and number all the equipment appropriately.
3. For the process described in Problem 2 above, the following control scheme has been suggested for
the overhead portion of the column:

The flow of the overhead product going to the storage is controlled by a signal from the liquid level
indicator on the reflux drum, which is used to control the position of a pneumatic control valve in the
product line (pipe). The flow of reflux back to the column is also regulated by a pneumatic control
valve, which uses the signal (electrical) from a flow indicator on the overhead product line to adjust
the valve such that the flow of reflux is always in a certain proportion to the product flow.

On the PFD developed in Problem 2, add the controls to give the desired control action described
above.
4. For the process described in Problem 2, the flow of bottom product sent to Unit 400 is controlled by a
pneumatic valve that receive a signal from a liquid level indicator that senses the level of accumulated
liquid in the bottom of the colimn. Add this control loop to the PFD developed in Problem 2.
5. For the process described in Problem 2, it is desired to control the purity of the top product. If we
assume that the pressure of the column does not vary (not necessarily a good assumption), we may
infer the product purity from the temperature of the top tray. Devise a control scheme to implement a
feedback loop to control the top product purity. Draw his control loop on the PFD for problem 2.
III. PROBLEM SOLVING

1. The composition of a ga derived by the gasification of coal is, volume percentage: carbon dioxide 4,
carbon monoxide 16, hydrogen 50, ethane 3, benzene 2, balance nitrogen. If the gas is burnt in a
furnace with 20% excess air, calculate:
a. the amount of air required per 100 kmol of gas.
b. the amount of flue gas produced per 100 kmol of gas.
c. the composition of the flue gases on a dry basis.

Assume complete combustion.

2. Ammonia is remove from a stream of air by absorption in water in a packed column. the air entering
the colun is at 760 mmHg pressure and 200C. The air contains 5% v/v ammonia. Only ammonia is
absorbed in the column.

If the flow rate of the ammonia air mixture to the columnis 200 m3/s and the stream leaving the column
is 0.05% v/v ammonia, calculate:

a. The flow rate of gas leaving the column.

b. The mass of ammonia absorbed.
c. The flowrate of water to the column, if the exit water contains 1% w/w ammonia.
3. Given the following streams:

Temperature, oC CP ∆H
Stream
Inlet Target MW/K MW
1 190 50 1.25 35
2 190 50 1.35 49
3 40 140 0.3 -30
4 40 120 0.4 -32
5 40 140 0.1 -10
∆Tmin = 20K

a. Design a network, which achieves maximum energy recovery.

b. It is required to raise low pressure saturated steam at 140oC from boiler feed water supplied at
30oC. For the steam ∆Hfg = 2100 kJ/kg and c = 4 kJ/kg. Use the Grand Composite Curve to
determine the maximum flowrate of steam that can be generated from waste heat from the above
streams.
c. Design a network which produces the maximum amount of steam calculated in part (b).
4. The following data is taken from “ Optimizing the Heat Recovery of Crude Units”, F. Huang and
R. Elshout., Chemical Engineering Progress:

Temperature, oC CP
Stream ∆H (MW)
Inlet Target MW/K
Residue (1) 340 93 0.279 68.9
Gas Oil (2) 222 54 0.113 19.0
Kerosene PA (3) 195 164 1.567 17.6

O/H Reflux (4) 147 102 0.814 36.6

Crude oil (5) 43 190 0.498 -73.2
190 351 0.546 -87.9

Running this data through the problem table ghave the following results:

∆Tmin, deg. C QH, MW QC, MW Pinch, deg.C

0 41.7 22.7 195
10 46.9 27.9 195/185
20 51.9 32.9 195/175
30 56.9 37.8 195/165
40 61.8 42.8 195/155

With ∆Tmin, 20 deg. C, the following is based on a HEN design in the paper.
a. Why does the above design not achieve the utilities target to ∆Tmin, 20 deg. C?
b. Identify where heat is transferred across pinch. How much heat is so transferred? How
does it compare with QH,actual = QH,min.
c. Design an MER network (also with 9 exchangers) which achieves the utilities target
d. Can you achieve the utilities target without steam splitting?

KULANG PA NG DIAGRAM
5. Consider the figure below. Optimize the design.
75 kW

Recycle
100o
130o 60o

75 kW

50o 100o 100o 70o

Feed

Distillation
100 kW Column
82.5o
Reactor

35o 120o
Product

95 kW

Stream Data
Tin [oC] Tout [oC] Q[kW] MCP [kW/oC] Type
Feed 50 100 75 1.50 Cold
Reactor 150 70 100 1.25 Hot
Outlet
Recycle 60 130 175 2.50 Cold
Product 120 35 170 2.00 Hot
6. Given the following streams:

Temperature, 0C
Stream CP (MW/oC)
Inlet Outlet
1 150 100 0.043
2 100 40 0.005
3 175 150 0.36
4 150 40 0.02
5 230 40 0.025
6 180 15 0.05
7 220 215 0.68
8 235 230 1.6
Steam 108 130 ----------

ΔTmin = 20oC. Design the best network for maximum energy recovery.
7. Find the minimum utility requirements for a network of heat exchangers involving the following
streams:

Temperature, 0F Heat capacity Flow

Process Streams
Supply Target rate (Btu/hr-0F x 10-4)
C1 100 430 1.6
C2 180 350 3.27
C3 200 400 2.6
H1 440 150 2.8
H2 520 300 2.38
H3 390 150 3.36
 8. For the following network of heat exchangers network shown below:
a. Determine the minimum number of heat exchangers
b. Identify any heat loops
c. Break any heat loops using ∆Tmin = 10℉. For the resulting network, prepare a
revised diagram, showing all temperatures and heat duties.

KULANG PA NG DIAGRAM
9. To produce high purity product two distillation columns are operated in series. The overhead
stream from the first column is the feed to the second column. The overhead from the second
column is the purified product. Both columns are conventional distillation columns fitted with
reboilers and total condensers. The bottom products are passed to the other processing units, which
do not form part of this problem. The feed to the first column passes through a preheater. The
condensate from the second column passes through a product cooler. The duty for each stream is
summarized below:

No. Stream Type Source Temp.°C Target Temp.°C Duty, kW

1 Feed preheater Cold 20 50 900
2 First condenser Hot 70 60 1350
3 Second condenser Hot 65 55 1100
4 First reboiler Cold 85 87 1400
5 Second reboiler Cold 75 77 900
6 Product cooler Hot 55 25 30

Find the minimum utility requirements for this process, for a minimum approach of 10°C illustrate
the process.
Note: the steam heat capacity is given by dividing the exchanger duty by the temperature change.
10. A process flow diagram of a typical process is shown in the following Figures. Extract data for hot
and cold streams for the different processes.

KULANG PA NG DIAGRAM
11. For the stream data, given in table 1, design maximum energy recovery (MER) network assuming
ΔTmin as 20°C. Calculate the number of loops present in the network and locate them in a MER
network. Also remove the heat exchanger from the network using loop breaking and restore the
original ΔTmin throughout the network using a heat flow path.
Table: Heat exchanger stream data

Stream Name Stream Type Ts(°C) Tt(°C) CP (kW/°C)

1 Hot 260 140 18
2 Hot 230 60 23
3 Cold 60 220 21
4 Cold 150 205 46
12. A flat-roofed and flat bottomed cylindrical storage tank is to be designed to store a liquid of density ρ
lb/ft3 and capacity V ft3. The tank is open to atmosphere. The cost of the roof is $ CT/ft2 and the cost
of the bottom is $ CB/ft2. The vertical surface cost is $ kt/ft2 where k is constant, and t is the wall
thickness of the tank in inches. The wall thickness is calculated by
t = 6PD/SE
where: P = internal pressure, psig
D = diameter of tank, ft
S = allowance stress, psi
E = joint efficiency
Find the dimension of the tank for the lowest cost.
13. A multiple effect evaporator is to be used for evaporating 400 000 lb of water per day from a salt
solution. The total initial cost for the first effect is $18 000 and each additional effect cost $15 000.
The life period is estimated to be 10 years and the salvage value or scrap value at the end of life period
may be assumed zero. The straight-line depreciation method is used. Fxed charges minus depreciation
are 15% yearly based on the first cost of equipment. Steam costs $0.50 per 100 lb. Annual maintenance
charges are 5% of the initial equipment cost. All other costs are independent of the number of effects.
The unit will produce 300 days/year. If the pounds of water evaporated per pound of steam equals 0.88
x number of effects, determine the optimum number effects for minimum annual cost.
14. Determine the optimum economic thickness of insulation that should be used under the following
conditions: Saturated steam is being passed continuously through a steel pipe with an outside diameter
of 10.75 inch. The temperature of the steam is 400oF and the steam is valued at $0.60 per 1000 lb. The
pipe is to be insulated with a material that has thermal conductivity of 0.03 BTU/h-ft-(0F/ft). The cost
of the installed insulation per foot of pipe length is $4.5 x lt, where It is the thickness of the insulation
in inches. Annual fixed charges including maintenance amount to 20% of the initial installed cost. The
total length of the pipe is 1000 ft, and the average temperature of the surrounding may be taken as
700F. Heat transfer resistance due to the steam film, scale, and pipe wall are negligible. The air film
coefficient at the outside of the insulation may be assumed constant at 2.0 BTU/hr-ft2-0F for all
insulation thickness.
15. A smelting furnace operating at 24000F is to be insulated in the outside to reduce heat loses and save
on energy. The furnace wall consists of a ½” steel plate and a 4” thick refractory inner lining. During
operation without outer insulation, the outer surface of the steel plate exposed to air has a temperature
of 3000F. Ambient air temperature is at 900F. Operation is 300 days per year. Thermal conductivities
in BTU/ hr-ft2-0F are: steel plate = 26; refractory = 0.1`; insulation to be insulated = 0.025. The
combined radiation and convection loss to air irrespective to material exposed is 3 BTU/ hr-ft2-0F,
annual fixed charge is 20% of the initial insulation cost. If heat energy is $ 5.0 per 10 000 BTU, and
installed of insulation is $100 perin-ft2 of area, what is the optimum thickness of insulation that should
be installed?
16. The purchased cost of equipment for a sold processing plant is $500,000. The plant is to be constructed
as an addition to an existing plant. Estimate the total capital investment and the fixed-capital
investment for the plant. What percentage and amount of the fixed-capital invest are due to cost for
engineering and supervision, and what percentage and amount for the contractor’s fee?
17. The purchased equipment cost for a plant which produces pentarythrinol (solid-fluid processing plant)
is $300 000. The plant is to be an addition to an existing formaldehyde plant. The major part of the
building cost will be for indoor construction. The contractor’s fee will be 7% of the direct plants. All
other costs are close to the average values found for typical chemical plants. On the basis of this
information, estimate the total direct plant cost, the fixed-capital investment, and the total capital
investment.
18. A company has been selling a soap containing 30 percent by weight water at a price of $20 per 50 kg
f.o.b. (i.e. the customer pays the freight charges). The company offers an equally effective soap
containing only 5 percent water. The water content is of no importance to the laundry, and it is willing
to accept the soap containing 5 percent water if the delivered costs are equivalent. If the freight rate is
$1.50 per 50 kg, how much should the company charge the laundry per 50 kg f.o.b. for the soap
containing 5 percent water?
19. Estimate the manufacturing cost per 100kg of product under the following conditions:
Fixed-capital investment = $4 million
Annual production output= 9 million kg of product
Raw materials cost= $0.25/kg of product
Utilities:
800-kPa steam= 50kg/kg of product
Purchased electric power= 0.9 kWh/kg of product
Filtered and softened water= 0.083 m3 /kg of product

Operating labor= 12 persons per shift at $25.00 per employee-hour

Plant operates three hundred 24-hr days per year
Corrosive liquids are involve
Shipments are in bulk carload lots
There are no patent, royalty, interest, or rent charges
Plant overhead costs amount to 50 % of the costs for operating labor, supervision, and maintenance
20. A chemical processing unit has a capacity for producing 1 million kilogram of a product per year.
After the unit has been put into operation, it is found that only 500,000 kg of product can be sold per
year. An analysis of existing situation shows that all fixed and other invariant charges, which must be
paid whether or not the unit is operating, amount to 35 percent of the total cost when operating at a
full capacity. Raw materials costs and other production costs are directly proportional to the quantity
of production (i.e., constant per kilogram of product at any production rate) amount to 40 percent of
the total product cost at full capacity. The remaining 25 percent of the total product cost is for variable
overhead and miscellaneous expenses, and the analysis indicates that these costs are directly
proportional to the production rate during operation raised to 1.5 power. What will be the percent
change in the total cost per kilogram of product if the unit is switched from the original design rate of
106 kg/yr of product to a time and rate schedule which will produce 0.5 x 106 kg or “half that amount”
of product per year at the least total cost?
I. MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. For an interest rate of 12% per year compounded quarterly, the effective interest rate per year is
closest to:
a. 4% b. 12% c. 12.55% d. 12.68%

2. For an interest rate of 2% per month, the effective semiannual rate is closed to:
a. 11.55% b. 12% c. 12.62% d. 26.82%

3. If you deposit $1, 000 now at an interst rate of 12% per year compounded monthly, the amount
that will be in the savings account five years from now is closest to:
a. $1, 600 b. $1, 762 . $1, 817 d. $1, 905

4. A company is considering two alternatives for manufacturing a certain part. Method R will
have a first cost of $40,000, an annual operating cost of $25,000, and a $10,000 salvage value
after its five-year life. Method S will have an initial cost of $100,000, an annual operating cost
of $15,000, and a $12,000 salvage value after its 10-year life. At an interest rate of 12% per
year, the present worth values of the two alternatives are closest to
a. PWR = $124,446, PWS = $180,889 c. PWR = $124,446, PWS = $147,263
b. PWR = $195,057, PWS = $180,889 d. PWR = $195,057, PWS = $147,263

5. For the alternatives in Example 4 above, their annual worth values are closest to:
a. AWR = $31,510; AWS = $32,016 c. AWR = $32,522; AWS = $32,016
b. AWR = $31,510; AWS = $50,851 d. AWR = $32,522; AWS = $50,851

6. A municipal bond with a face value of $10 000 will mature 15 years from now. The bond
interest rate is 6% per year, payable quarterly. At interest rate of 16% per year computed
quarterly, the present worth of the bond is closest to?
a. $4,173 b. $4,345 c. $5,277 d. $6,135

7. A company has the option of building a warehouse now or building it three years from now.
The cost now would be $400,000, but three years from now the cost will be $500,000. If the
company’s minimum attractive rate of return (real i) is 12 % per year and the inflation rate is
10% per year, the present worth cost of the building in three years when inflation is considered
is closest to:
a. $268,700 b.$355,900 c.$375,650 d.$402,700
8. A machine with a first cost of $25,000 is expected to have a $5,000 salvage value after its five
year depreciated life. The depreciation charge by the straight-line method for year three is
closest to:
a.$4,000 c. $10,000
b.$5,000 d. $15,000
9. A machine with first cost of $40,000 is to be depreciated by the MACRS method. The machine
has an estimated $10,000 salvage value after its five year depreciable life. The depreciation
charge for year 3 is closest to:

a. $5,760 c. $7,680
b. $5,920 d. $10,000

10. A five-year assets, which had a first cost of $20,000 with a $2,000 salvage value was
depreciated by the straight line method. The book value at the end of year four was closest to

a. $3,600 c. $5,600
b. $4,000 d. $16,400

11. A machine with a first cost of $80,000 is depreciated by the MACRS method. The machine
has a depreciable value of 10 years with a $10,000 estimated salvage value. The book value of
the machine after year 6 would be closest to
a. $23,600 c. $49,350
b. $30,650 d. $56,400

12. A company is considering two methods for obtaining a certain part. Method A will involve
purchasing a machine for $50,000 with a life of 5 years, a $2,000 salvage value and a fixed
annual operating cost of $10,000. Additionally, each part produced by the method will cost
$10.

Method B will involve purchasing the part from a subcontractor for $25 per part. At an interest
rate of 10% per year, the number of parts per year required for the two methods to break even
is

a. 1,333 c. 1,850
b. 1,524 d. 2,011
13. Required as the working capital for the operation of the facilities.

a. manufacturing costs c. . capital investments

b. plant overhead costs d. general expenses

14. It is the geographic boundary defining the coverage of the specific project.
a. battery limit c. grass roots
b. contingency d. cost index

15. The type o capital cost estimate which is based on knowledge of major items of equipment.
a. definitive statement c. study statement
b. detailed statement d. preliminary statement
16. This technique is used to obtain order-of-magitude cost estimates by multiplying some factors
to approximate the fixed or total capital investment.

a. detailed item estimate

b. Lang factors for approximation of capital investment
c. percentage of delivered equipment cost
d. unit cost estimate

17. It is sometimes known as project control estimate which is based on almost complete data with
a probable accuracy of estimate within 10 percent.

a. Study Estimate c. Definitive Estimate

b. Preliminary Estimate d. Order of Magnitude Estimate

18. It is used to predict the cost of equipment through power relationships when cost data are not
available.
a. investment ratio c. turnover ratio
b. cost index d. six-tenths factor rule

19. These are expenses that are particularly independent of production rate.

a. Plant overhead cost c. General expenses

b. Variable production cost d. Fixed charge
20. It is defined as a complete plant erected at a new site.

a. process plant c. auxiliary plant

b. grass-roots plant d. manufacturing plant

21. This method for study or order-of-magnitude estimates relates the fixed capital investment of
new process plant to the fixed capital investment of similar previously constructed plants.
a. power factor applied to plant
b. Lang factor for approximation
c. percentage of delivered equipment cost
d. unit cost estimate

22. In the selection of materials, the re-evaluation of apparently suitable materials under process
conditions is done during
a. preliminary selection
b. laboratory testing
c. economic selection of apparently suitable material
d. interpretation of laboratory results and other data
23. These are unforeseen events such as strikes, storms, floods, price variations, which may have
an effect on the costs for a manufacturing operation.
a. Contingencies c. Safety services
b. Administrative costs d. Plant protection

24. These are expenses necessarily to be considered if a plant is to be kept in efficient operating
condition.
a. insurance c. operating supplies
b. maintenance and repairs d. cost for utilities

25. A safe operation that is inherent in the nature of the process.

a. Extrinsic safety c. Engineered safety

b. Intrinsic safety d. Operation safety

26. It is the systematic technique for identifying all plant for operational hazards and operability
problems.
a. Failure mode-and-effect analysis
b. HAZOP study
c. Fault-tree analysis
d. Safety indexes

27. It is an insurance term in chemical industries that represents the financial loss associated with an
accident.

a. Loss prevention c. Loss analysis

b. Hazard assessment d. Safety audits