PROCESS FLOWSHEET SYNTHESIS

P. Balasubramanian
Department of Chemical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Malaysia

RECAP

Plant site location and utilities

Reactor synthesis
Separator and recycle structure synthesis
Heat integration

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OUTCOME

At the end of this lecture, students must be

able to know
the

synthesis of process flowsheet for a chemical

process plant from heuristics

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CONTENT

Introduction
Types of process flowsheet
Process flowsheet synthesis
Mass balances with recycle and its solution
Conclusion
References

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INTRODUCTION

The flowsheet is a key document in process design

The process flowsheet shows
arrangement

of the equipment selected to carry out the

process
stream connections
stream flow-rates and compositions, and
operating conditions.

The flowsheet is a diagrammatic model of the

process

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INTRODUCTION

The flow-sheet will be used by the specialist design

groups as the basis for their designs
This
will
include
piping,
instrumentation,
equipment design and plant layout
It will also be used by operating personnel for the
preparation of operating manuals and operator
training
During plant start-up and subsequent operation, the
flowsheet forms a basis for comparison of operating
performance with design

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INTRODUCTION

The flowsheet is drawn up from material balances

made over the complete process and each
individual unit
Energy balances are also made to determine the
energy flows and the service requirements
Manual flow-sheeting calculations can be tedious
and time consuming when the process is large or
complex
Computer-aided flow-sheeting programs are being
increasingly used to facilitate this stage of process
design

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INTRODUCTION

Representation:
The

process flowsheet is the definitive document on the

chemical process
The presentation in the process flowsheet must be clear,
comprehensive, accurate and complete

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TYPES OF FLOWSHEET

Block diagrams
Process flow diagrams
Piping and Instrumentation diagrams

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BLOCK DIAGRAMS

It is the simplest form of presentation

Each block can represent a single piece of
equipment or a complete stage in the process
Only a limited use as engineering documents
The blocks can be of any shape
use

a mixture of squares and circles, drawn with a

template

feed

process

product

Fig.1 Block diagram for a chemical plant.

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Fig. 2.Process Flow diagram.

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Fig. 3 Flow sheet-polymer production

Source: Coulson & Richardsons CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Vol. 6, Fourth ed., Chemical Engineering Design
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Fig. 4 Flow sheet-simplified nitric acid process

Source: Coulson & Richardsons CHEMICAL ENGINEERING , Vol. 6, Fourth ed., Chemical Engineering
13
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Design

Fig. 5 A typical Flow sheet

Source: Coulson & Richardsons CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
, Vol. 6, Fourth ed., Chemical
14
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COMPUTER AIDED FLOWSHEETING

Full simulation programs, which require powerful

computing facilities
capable

of carrying out rigorous simultaneous mass and

energy balances, and preliminary equipment design:
producing accurate and detailed flow-sheets

Simple material balance programs requiring only a

relatively small core size

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SIMULATION PACKAGES
Table 1. Commercial packages for process flowsheet simulation.
acronym

type

source

ASPEN

Steady state

Aspen Tech

DESIGN II

Steady state

WinSim

HYSYS

Steady state
dynamic

Hyprotech

PRO II

Steady state

SimSci-Esscor

DYNSIM

dynamic

CHEMCAD

Steady state

Aspen DPS

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Chemstations

16

PROCESS SIMULATION AND PROCESS SYNTHESIS

The design of chemical process involves synthesis

and analysis
Process synthesis is the overall development of a
process flowsheet by combining individual
steps(equipment and operating conditions) into an
optimal arrangement.

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PROCESS SIMULATION AND

PROCESS SYNTHESIS

Process analysis breaks down the flowsheet

to evaluate the performance of each
individual element as well as how the overall
process would perform, typically by a
process simulator
The flowsheet is synthesized with the use of
a process synthesis model and simulation tool

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PROCESS SYNTHESIS MODEL

SOURCE: CEP MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2005, 25-29

reacto
r
Separation and
recycle
Heat exchange
network
utilities
Fig. 6 The onion model of process design.
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Example 2

Fig. 7 Process synthesis.

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Fig. 8 Reactor separator

recycle system.21
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HIERARCHICAL APPROACH TO PROCESS DESIGN

Batch vs continuous
Input-output structure of the flowsheet
Recycle structure of the flowsheet
General structure of the separation system
Vapor

recovery system
Liquid recovery system

Heat exchanger network

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LAYER 1: REACTOR

Synthesis of a new process flowsheet should start at

the heart of the chemical process. That is the
reactor system
Raw materials

What

reactor

Valuable products

is the right reactor model(CSTR, PFR) and what are

its operating conditions(isothermal, adiabatic, constant
outlet temperature, vacuum and so on)?
How should the product conversion and yield be
determined?
Is a catalyst needed in the reactor system modeling?

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LAYER 2: SEPARATION AND RECYCLE

Products and any by-products formed in the reactor

needed to be separated from unconverted reactant
for further purification, while the unconverted raw
material is recycled back to the reactor
Separation system:
vapor

separation system, and

liquid separation system

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LAYER 2: SEPARATION AND RECYCLE

Flash column is used for phase separation:

for

example, mixture of liquid and vapor is separated

into the phases

Vapor separation system:

condensers,

flash tanks, absorbers, adsorbers, and gas

separation membranes

These unit operations are normally used to purify a

vapor recycle stream before it re-enters the process
A purge stream is always used to avoid undesired
contaminant build-up

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LAYER 2

Liquid separation systems include

Distillation

(including extractive distillation)

Solvent extraction
Stripping
Filtration (including membrane separation)
Centrifugation and so on

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LAYER 2
Vapor
separation
system

feed

Reactor
system

purge

flash

Liquid
separation
system

products
byproducts

Fig. 9 The overall separation scheme consists of vapor, liquid and flash separations
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RECYCLE SYSTEM: TEAR STREAM CONCEPT

Tear recycle stream
R1

R2
Recycle stream

Unit operation in simulator

Fig. 10 The tear stream concept is used in recycle simulation.

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TEAR RECYCLE STREAM

Use the concept of a tear stream in modeling of a

recycle loop
In Fig. 16, the recycle stream after unit F is
considered as two separate tear streams R1 and R2
Step 1: Perform the simulation for the units A and
B
Step 2: Assume initial value for R1 and perform
the simulation of unit C
Step 3: Perform the simulation for the units D, E
and F
Step 4: After unit F converges, compare the
flowrate of stream R2 with the initial value for R1
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TEAR RECYCLE STREAM

Step 5: If the values of R1 and R2 agree to

within a specified tolerance, it is likely that
the simulation model has converged. The
calculated value of R2 is used in place of R1 in
unit C and the simulation is rerun
Step 6: if tear streams R1 and R2 do not agree
to within the specified tolerance, the initial
guess for R1 must be revised and perform the
simulation(without connecting the recycle
stream to unit C) until the convergence is
achieved.
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LAYER 3: HEAT EXCHANGER

NETWORK

The process heating and cooling loads are

determined after the process structure within the
two inner layers of the onion model has been
finalized
Design and model the heat exchanger network
Use the tool of process integration
Utility

targeting
Network design

After a preliminary network has been synthesized,

the process flowsheet will undergo a complete resimulation for the verification of energy balances

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LAYER 4: UTILITIES

The selection of hot and cold utilities is another

well established application of process integration
Options to be explored for the placement of the
heat pump and heat engine

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EXAMPLE 1

The hydrodealkylation (HDA) process converts

toluene to benzene in the presence of a large
excess of hydrogen
Main reaction: dealkylation of toluene to benzene
and methane
C6H5-CH3+H2C6H6+CH4
Secondary reaction: formation of naphthalene as
by-product
2C6H6 C12H10 + H2

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EXAMPLE 1

The reaction, globally exothermic, takes place in an

adiabatic Plug Flow Reactor at pressures of 25 to 35
bars and temperatures between 620 and 720oC
Large excess of hydrogen, typically 5:1 molar ratio,
prevents the formation of coke
The reaction conversion is typically 60-80%,
because at higher value the selectivity drops
rapidly

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EXAMPLE 1

Input/Output streams
Input streams:
Toluene of 100% purity and
Hydrogen with 5% CH4
At steady state, material balance must be
consistent. That is,
Mass input = Mass output
Output streams: Benzene product, lights gases from
the stabilization column, and heavies from the
distillation column
A gaseous purge stream (methane is entered as
impurity with the hydrogen feed
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EXAMPLE 1
Purge (to remove methane from hydrogen)

Benzene
Hydrogen
Toluene

Reaction

Lights

Separation

Heavies

Fig.11Input-output streams for HDA process.

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EXAMPLE 1

Reactor analysis:
The stoichiometric approach is simple but sufficient for
material balance purposes
This modeling approach needs to know, (i) the conversion
of the main reaction and (ii) selectivity of the secondary
reaction
Kinetic model must be considered when accurate kinetic
data is available for either CSTR or PFR
Industrial reactors are much more complex as the ideal
models
Therefore, kinetic models are not important in steady state
flowsheeting at least in the early stages of process design
Furthermore, kinetic modeling is important in operation
level or plant wide control
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EXAMPLE 1

Reactor-separator-recycle system:

Fig. 12 Reactor-separator-recycle structure of HDA process.

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EXAMPLE 1

The Flash unit used for the separation of gas and

liquid phases from a mixture.
A vapour/liquid equilibrium model can simulate this
operation
To simulate the purge we place the unit Split
modeled by Stream Splitter
The gas is recycled via a compressor Comp
simulated by a Compressor unit.
The simulation of the liquid separation system is
more complicated.
Use black-box model for the liquid separation
system
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EXAMPLE 1

Separation system: The simulation of the train of

distillation columns

Fig. 13 Liquid separation section of the HDA process.

Stab: stabilizer, and Dist: distillation column

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EXAMPLE 1

Control of flowsheet specifications:

The molar ratio hydrogen/toluene at the reactor
inlet should be kept strictly at 5:1
Manipulated variable: The split-ratio of the purge
Simulates the steady state behavior of a SISO
(single input single output) feedback controller

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EXAMPLE 1

Fig. 14 Flowsheet controller in the HDA

process.
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EXAMPLE 1

FEHE: feed effluent

heat exchanger

Fig. 15 UOP HDA process for benzene production

Source: Alexandre C. Dimian, Integrated design and simulation of chemical
processes, Elsevier, 2003.
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EXAMPLE 2: PRODUCTION OF NOCTANE

The onion model synthesis and simulation

technique will be used to develop a process
flowsheet for n-octane (C8H18) production from
ethylene(C2H4)
and
i-butane(C4H10).
The
component flowrates (some impurities) and
stream specifications for the fresh feed are
givenTable
Table
2. specifications for the production of n-octane.
2. Feed
component

Flow rate
(kg-mol/h)

specification

Nitrogen N2

0.1

Ethylene C2H4

20

T = 30oC
P = 20 psia

n-Butane C4H10

0.5

i-Butane C4H10

10
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EXAMPLE 2: PRODUCTION OF
N-OCTANE

Q1: Draw the input-output streams for n-octane

production process.
Q2: Synthesize a process flowsheet for n-octane
production process.

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ANSWER FOR Q1
purge

Nitrogen
Ethylene
n-Butane
i-Butane

n-octane
Reaction

Separation

Fig. 16: Input-output streams for n-octane production process.

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EXAMPLE 2

Flowsheet development:
Layer 1: Reactor
Ethylene

and i-butane react isothermally in a

stoichiometric isothermal reactor at 93 oC to produce noctane.
The key limiting component is ethylene
Overall conversion is 98%
The pressure drop across the reactor is specified at 5
psi.
The reaction is

2C2 H 4 C4 H10 C8 H18

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EXAMPLE 2

Layer 2: Separation and recycle

Flash

column is added to the reactor effluent to

separate unconverted raw materials from the desired
product
A pressure drop of 2 psi is introduced, while the
operating temperature is maintained the same as that of
the reactor
The more volatile compounds (ethylene, i-butane and
other impurities) are flashed to the top product stream
together with a small portion of n-octane, while
remaining n-octane leaves at the bottom

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EXAMPLE
2
An additional separation unit is needed to recover the noctane from the top stream
Distillation is then added to the flash columns top
product to recover n-octane

10 theoretical trays, operating pressure 15

psia
Bottom product: n-octane
Top products: volatile components

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EXAMPLE 2

The unconverted raw material leaving at the top of

the distillation column is recycled back to the
reactor
A purge stream is added before the stream is
recompressed, reheated and sent back to the
reactor
Layers 3 and 4: the design of heat exchanger
network and utility system will be handled
simultaneously.

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EXAMPLE 2

Fig. 17 Preliminary flowsheet for the production of n-octane after completion of

onion model layers 1 and 2.
Source: CEP magazine, October 2005, page 28.
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EXAMPLE 2

Fig. 18 The complete flowsheet with a heat-integrated distillation column

Source: CEP magazine, October 2005, page 28.
52
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MASS BALANCES WITH RECYCLE STREAMS

Law of conservation of mass

Mass

neither be created nor destroyed although it is

transformed from one form to another form
That is, mass input = mass output

Mass balances for three simple units

Mixer
Separator
Reactor

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MASS BALANCES WITH RECYCLE STREAMS

ni2

Mixer(MIXR)
ni1

Separator(SEPR)

niout

niout

MIXR

nstrm

n
j 1

ni3
ni2

niin

ni2 niin sf i
separator

ni1
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ni1 niin 1 sf i
Where, sfi is the split fraction:
The fraction of component i going
to the overhead stream
54

MASS BALANCES WITH RECYCLE STREAMS

Reactor(REAC)
niin

Reactor

niout

Stoichiometry

aA bB
cC
dD moles of B also
N moles of A react,
then
(b/a)N
react and form (c/a)N moles of C and (d/a)N moles
of D
Limiting reactant here is A and conversion of A is x

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MASS BALANCES WITH RECYCLE STREAMS

The equation for each of the components is

out
A

out
B

out
C

n
n

out
D

n n x
in
A

in
A

b in
n nA x
a
c in
in
nC n A x
a
d in
in
nD n A x
a
in
B

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EXAMPLE 3: PROCESS FLOWSHEET

SIMULATION USING SIMPLE MASS BALANCES

The process takes hydrogen and nitrogen (in a

3:1 ratio) to make ammonia. The reactor is
limited by equilibrium and 25 percent
conversion per pass in the reactor. Use
stoichiometric feed and determine the molar
flow rate of components in each stream using
Excel
6

1
3
N 2 H 2 NH 3
2
2

1
N2 = 100
H2 = 300

Mixer

reactor

3
Stoichiometry
Fig. 19 Ammonia process with a recycle.
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separator

5
98 %NH3
0.5 %N2
0.5 %H2

57

EXAMPLE 3: SOLUTION

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EXAMPLE 4

Flowsheet simulation using chemical reaction

equilibrium
The

equilibrium conversion in the ammonia synthesis

reactor is given by
1
3
N 2 H 2 NH 3
2
2

Kp

p NH 3
12
N2

p p

32
H2

y NH 3
y1N 22 y H3 22

Recalculate

1
P

the molar flow rate of components in each

stream using tear stream concept.
Data
Kp = 0.05 at 589 K, P = 220 atm
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EXAMPLE 4: SOLUTION

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EXAMPLE 5

Flowsheet simulation in a reactor-separator-recycle

system including phase equilibrium
Process

ammonia synthesis
Ammonia is condensed
Conversion per pass in the reactor is 25 %
Phase separation
K values: nitrogen 4.8, hydrogen 70, ammonia 0.051, and
carbon dioxide 0.32
Flow rates of nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide into
the process are 100, 300, and 1 mol/time
Because of carbon dioxide, we add a purge stream as 1 %
of the recycle stream.

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EXAMPLE 5

Separator model: Rachford-Rice equation

K i 1 zi

i 1 1 K i 1
n

xi

zi
1 K i 1

yi K i xi
niv Vy i Fyi

niL Lxi F 1 xi
n

z
i 1

i 1

i 1

1, xi 1, yi

Where,
zi is the mole fraction of the species i into the
flash
Ki is the K value for the species i
(vapor pressure/total pressure)
is the fraction of feed that goes out as vapor
xi is the mole fraction of species i in the liquid
phase
yi is the mole fraction of species i in the vapor
phase
V1 is the vapor flow rate
L is the liquid flow rate
F is the feed flow rate

Draw the simplified flowsheet for ammonia

synthesis and perform mass balances with vaporliquid equilibria
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EXAMPLE 5: SOLUTION
8

1
feed

mixer

2
out of
mixer

reactor

separator

4
out of
reactor

6
Flash
separator

7
purge

5
product

3
reacting
Fig. 20 Ammonia process with vapor-liquid equilibria and a purge stream.

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EXAMPLE 5: SOLUTION

constraints

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CONCLUSION

In this lecture, the general concepts for the

flowsheet synthesis are elaborately presented.
Illustrative examples are provided for the process
flowsheet synthesis.
The steady state simulation of process flowsheet is
presented with illustrative examples.

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REFERENCES

Alexandre C. Dimian, Integrated Design and Simulation of

Chemical Processes, Elsevier, 2003.
R. Smith, Chemical Process: Design and Integration, Wiley,
2005.
D. Chwan Yee Foo, Z. A. Manan, M. Selvan, M. L. McGuire,
Integrate Process Simulation and Process Synthesis, Chem.
Eng. Prog. October 2005, 25-29.
Bruce A. Finlayson, Introduction to Chemical Engineering
Computing, Wiley, 2006.
L. T. Biegler, I. E. Grossmann, A. W. Westerberg, Systematic
Methods of Chemical Process Design, Prentice Hall, 1997.
Max S. Peters, Klaus D. Timmerhaus, Plant design and
economics for Chemical Engineers, McGraw Hill, fourth
edition, 1991.
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