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

My Background

Background

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)

Where is Denmark?

A Few Facts about Denmark

Constitutional Monarchy
A little smaller than the
state of Alabama
(not including
Greenland)
Population approximately
5500000.
National sport SOCCER!

My hometown

Where I moved
to go to college

My Research Interests

Computer Aided Process Engineering

for

solvent

Process/Product Synthesis and Design

Property prediction & CAMD

selection/design
Process modeling and simulation

Develop novel efficient methods for emerging

problems
Develop strategies for simultaneous solution
Systematic
identification/generation
of
alternatives

Process Integration and Optimization

Class Overview 1:3

Lectures (Start Today)

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

Class Overview 2:3

Teaching Assistants

Dr. Zheng Liu

Office hours: Wed. 1:003:00 PM

Office hours:
TBA
Ross 349
Location: TBA

Ms. Zhelun Li

Mr. Alexander Kelly

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).

Class Overview 3:3

Grading

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

Tentative Class Schedule

Tentative Lab Schedule

MM: Multimedia material to review

using headphones at your own
pace.
MM Tutorials: Perform simulation

Multimedia 1:2

Choice of Simulator
Software
Aspen Plus
Hysys
Matlab

Multimedia 2:2

Content
s
Navigatio
n

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

Lecture 1 Outline

Primitive Design Problems

Steps in Designing/Retrofitting Chemical

Processes

Example

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

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:
petrochemicals
petroleum
products
industrial gases
foods
pharmaceuticals

polymers
coatings
electronic
materials
bio-chemicals

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.

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

Steps in Product/Process
Design
Initial Decision

Concept & Feasibility

Development &
Manufacturing
Product Introduction

Steps in Product/Process
Design

Initial Decision

Steps in Product/Process
Design

Concept & Feasibility

Steps in Product/Process
Design

Development & Manufacturing

Steps in Product/Process
Design

Product Introduction

Steps in Process Design

Assess Primitive
Problem

Detailed Process
Synthesis
-Algorithmic
Methods

Development
of Base-case

Detailed Design,
Equipment sizing, Cap.
Cost Estimation,
Profitability Analysis,
Optimization

Plant-wide
Controllability
Assessment

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

Steps in Process Design

PART I

Detailed Process
Synthesis
-Algorithmic
Methods

Development
of Base-case

Detailed Design,
Equipment sizing, Cap.
Cost Estimation,
Profitability Analysis,
Optimization

Assess Primitive
Problem

Plant-wide
Controllability
Assessment

Steps in Process Design

Steps in Process Design

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.

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 competitors 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

Survey Literature Sources

SRI Design Reports

Encyclopedias

Handbooks and Reference Books

Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
...

Indexes

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology

Ullmans Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
...

See Auburn University Library

Patents
Internet

Steps in Process Design

Assess Primitive
Problem

Detailed Process
Synthesis
-Algorithmic
Methods

Development
of Base-case

PART II
Detailed Design,
Equipment sizing, Cap.
Cost Estimation,
Profitability Analysis,
Optimization

Plant-wide
Controllability
Assessment

Steps in Process Design

Steps in Process Design

Assess Primitive
Problem

Detailed Process
Synthesis
-Algorithmic
Methods

Development
of Base-case

Detailed Design,
Equipment sizing, Cap.
Cost Estimation,
Profitability Analysis,
Optimization

Plant-wide
Controllability
Assessment

PART III

Steps in Process Design

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

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

Safety Issues
Flammability Limits of Liquids and Gases
LFL and UFL (vol %) in Air at 25 oC and 1 Atm
Compound

LFL (%) UFL (%)

Acetylene

2.5

100

Cyclohexane

1.3

Ethylene

2.7

36

Gasoline

1.4

7.6

Hydrogen

4.0

75

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,

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

Summary The Design

Process

Steps in Designing
Processes

and

Retrofitting

Chemical

Assess Primitive Problem Covered Today (SSLW p.

1-31)
Process Creation Next Week (SSLW p. 77-94, 101109)
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

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..

Other Business

Lab

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. 77-94, 101-109)

Class Webpage

http://wp.auburn.edu/eden/?page_id=75