I

CHEMENTATOR ENGINEERING FEATURES

17 Latest developments of interest 123 Select the right control valve for
difficult selVice
Difficult or hazardous conditions require
NEWSFRONT volves with specific features. Thisarticle
22 Disproportionation process widens its explains what to look for.
commercial scope 131 Brazed-aluminum heat exchangers
A crop of new organic intermediates for Thisarticle describes the construction,
use in a variety of applications emerges design and applications ot, and the way
.from development work on a basic Air
to specify, such exchangers.
technique discovered decades ago. 139 Tips on installing batch control
25 CPI keeping close watch on Some features of a distributed control
superconductors craze system for a batch process are more
The chemical process industries are well important than others. Thisarticle tells
aware that the new "high-temperature" which are, and explains why.
devices could bring rapid progress in a
number of applications.
29 Fast changes are in store for maleic CE TUTORIAL
anhydride makers 145 Numerical methods- Part 1:
CONTROL-VALVE CHOICES
New plants going up to satisfy greater A basic method and general caveats
demand will likely feature less-costly When analytical solution is difficult,
fluid-bed reactors, and will integrate numerical methods may be preferred.
anhydride production with that of
specialty derivatives.
33 New study provides clues to projecto CHEMPUTERS
cost overruns 153 Statistical regression routines
37 Instrument monitors particle chemistry Most commercial spreadsheet programs
are not designed to perform regressions
38 $ulVey gives facts on plant engineers
on their own. Thisarticle provides a
procedure for constructing templates.
TECHNOLOGV FOCUS
45 Pollution control VOU & VOUR JOB
Proresscontinues in the battle colnst
.159 Overcoming unemployment
pollution, and the task ls keeping ChEs When job hunting, consider opportunities
and the CPI very busy. in other fields, even though the pay may
be lower initially.
NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES
103 Low-cost process controller can be NEW ORGANIC INTERMEDIATES 22 PLANT NOTEBOOK
easily expanded ~
163 Desuperheater control system
FisherControls comes to market with a
cools gas
scaled-down control unit called UniVox.
164 Time to drain a tank with piping
166 Quick sizing of restrictive orifices
OTHER DEPARTMENTS
5 Lefters OPERATION & MAINTENANCE
7 Economic indicators
169 Flammability oflowBtu gas
173 Bookshelf
Itis difficult to determine whether such
181 Manufacturers' literature streams will burn of themselves, or
196 Available reprints whether additional fuel will be needed.
197 Reader servee eerd
Here ls how to calculate the answer.
BRAZED-ALUMINUM EXCHANGERS 131

, ~ Augusl17, 1987; VOL 94, NO. 11, Number ot coples 76,690-Chemical Engineering (with Chemicot & Metallurgical Engineering) ISSN0009-2460 ts published semi-monthly except monthly ln Jan.: Feb.:
~! June; July; Aug.: and Dec. by McGraw-Hill, Inc.; James H. McGraw (1860-1948). founder. Executive, Editorial, Ctrcutctfon. Advertising and Publication Offices: McGraw-Hill Building, 1221 Avenue 01 the
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~g~~;~~~~~~~~tFe~~~~en~~~~~.OG:~~~'S;~
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houn. 111. Industrial and Process Industries; Michael K.Hehir. Energy; Harold W. McGraw, 111, Transportation, Aerospace and Oefense. Senior Vice Presidents: Kemp Anderson, Administration and Product Support Sys-
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President and Secretary; Walter D. Serwotko. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Shel F.Asen, Vice Presldent. Manufacturing; Robert J. Bchosh. Senior Vice President. Finance
and Manufacturing; Ralph R. Schulz. Senior Vice President. Editorial; Ralph J. Webb, Vice President and Irecsurer. Postmaster: Send address changes to Chemlcol Engineering, Fulfillment .&. np r.:;).
Mana8er. P.O. Box 1076, Soutbeostem. PA 19398. Subscripon rate: Peryearfor individuais in the field ofthe public:atio~: U,S.and U.S.possessionsS27.50 (single copies S6,except Aug. 4 special 1l'..1 ~
:~~\~I ~~'h?sar~~~~:5~~~y?nO~;~~~c~~~s ~~~~~e~: ~~er sUbscr.iPtioninformation appears on p. 195. Reqistrctons: Title reg. in U.S.Patent Office. Copyright@ 1987 by McGraw-Hill.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING/ AUGUST 17,1987 3

Table - Typical data for desuperheater control-evaluation manufacturer's literature regarding
reveal satisfactory performance, as seen from temperature ranges the desuperheater's size and hole
setup. The' direction of the holes and
Compressor temperature
Control valve their taper impart a high: rotational
Reading Suction Discharge opening, %* Remarks velocity to the liquido As the stem is
moved, the holes become progressively
O 84.1 Normal O Normal condition larger.
1 84.3 Normal O The differential pressure (above 50
2 84.7 Normal O Dryer swing psi) between the liquid and the recycle
3 86.5 +1 13.5 Valve partially open
gas makes it possible to inject the liq-
4 86.1 +2 49.9 Valve almost half
open uid as a finely atomized spray. To en-
5 93.5 +7 103.6 Valve fully open
sure complete vaporization of the liq-
6 94.4 +7 104.4 Valve fully open uid, the desuperheater controller must
7 95.0 +9 105.0 Maximum discharge be installed at the equivalent of 40 pipe
temperature reached diameters ahead of the temperature-
8 94.5 +7 104.4
I sensing elemento
9 93.1 +5 102.9 Compressor discharge
10 90.8 +1 100.6 Steady temperature fali
Performance data
11
12
88.0
86.0
Normal
Normal
100.0
94.6
t
Normal condition
The equipment's performance was
evaluated during a hot summer month.
After an initial debugging, the equip-
The readings were taken at 10-min. intervals. Ambient conditions: hot and humid, 91F ment performed within design limits.
Suction setpoint: 85F
capacities were based on flowrate; actual capacity could exceed design values.
A performance evaluation appears in
the table.

Time to drain a Nomenclature

tank with piping A

d
Area of pipe, ft2
Pipe dia., ft
Nick J. Loiacono', P.E. D Tank dia., ft
f Pipe friction factor
T he literature presents numerous equations and nomo-
graphs to determine the time required to drain a vertical
cylindrical tank. However, these formulations do not con-
9
H
Gravitational constant, 32.2 ft/s2
Liquid height at any time above drain-pipe outlet, ft
h1 Piping-line loss, ft
sider any associated piping. So, we will derive an equation L Equivalent length of piping, ft
for drainage time in such cases. P Pressure, psf
Derivation Q Volume of liquid, ft3
From the Bernoulli equation, for points 1 and 2: tf Time to drain volume of liquid, s
V Velocity, ft/s
P1 V12 P2, Vl Z Vertical datum, ft
- + -2 + Z1 = - + -2 + Z2 + ht (1)
'Y 9 'Y 9 'Y Specific volume, Ib/ft3
P1 _ V12 _ P2 - O Subscripts
Assuming: - - -- - - - (2)
'Y 2g 'Y A Pipe of dia. A (at the drain pipe outlet), ft
B Pipe of dia. B, ft
And noting that Zl - Z2 = H, and letting VI! = V (the veloc-
ity of the fluid at the pipe outlet), yields: '
f Final (amount to be drained)
o Initial
~ 1 Tank liquid surface at any time
H = 2g + ht (3)
2 Drain pipe outlet
;. jL ~
Now: ht=-- (4)
d 2g
dQ =AV= 7T'~V (7)
4Q dt 4
H = H; - 7T'D2 (5)
4 dQ
Substituting into Eq. (3), and solving for V:
Then: V = 7T'd2dt (8)

Substituting Eq. (8) into Eq. (6), and rearranging terms:

V = [jL29 (Ho - :~2 )]1/2 (6)
4 [ -1/2
d+1 dt = 7T'~ .r:;2g+ 1( u, - 4Q )]
7T'D2 dQ
(9)

*Wink Engineering, 7520 Hayne Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70126-1899

164 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING/AUGUST 17,1987

 Integrating from t = o . to t = tf' and from Q = o to drain pipe system has 474 ft equivalent length of 4 in sch. 40
Q = Qf results in: pipe. Assume f = 0.0185.
t
j
= D2
d2
r;::-~(----::JL:;---+-1) (Vll:
9 d o
-JH _ o
4Qf)
nD2 (10) tr
=~
'~~~~~~~--7
1_2_(0.0185(474)
0.3362 -V 32.2 0.336
+ 1)(\128 - vl3)

= 48,436 s = 13.5 h
tf = ~: f(1~ + 1)(vH;, - VH;) (11)
If the drain piping consists of different size pipe, find the
equivalent length the diameter of the outlet size via:
Example- Find the time to drain a tank, to elevation 10 ft
given that: It is filled with water to elevation 25 ft, the pip-
LA =
dA)5
LE ( dE (12)
ing outlet elevation is -3 ft, and the tank is 50 ft dia. The

c;V t:,.P/S
Quick sizing For liquids:
For gases: o, =
Ql =
1,360
g
c,Y'C"t:,.=P-;C;(P::-1-+-P:;:::-27
(2)
)/;::::-2-:::S:-g-;;T=Z
(3)
of resfricfive orifices For steam: W = 3 CjKVt:,.P(P1 + P2)/2 (4)
Herman E. Waisvisz' where: K = 1 + 0.0007 t:,.Tsh (5)
Restrictive-orifice diameter:

R estrictive orifices can be easily sized, starting with valve

coefficients and making some simpIe assumptions: It is
known that for a l/s-in. straight-bore orifice, the C; is 14.0.
D = %YCvrol14.0 (6)

Corrections for plate thickness: Dcorr = DVL/0.125

Using this, plus the definition of Cv, the control-valve for- If t:,.p 2: 1/2 P 1, then V t:,.P(P 1 + P 2)/2 reduces to
mulas, and the fact that the Reynolds number is 2,300 for Pl/2VI5 = 0.6124 P1, for gases and steam only-this is
turbulent flow, one can size any restrictive orifice with a sonic flow.
plate thickness of 1/8 in. The orifice can be union or paddle type. Use Types 304 or
For plates thicker than that, the bore can be found by 316 stainless; special materiaIs for corrosive atmospheres.
applying a correction, since L/D5 = constant for turbulent
flow, as derived from the pressure-drop formula.
Cv = the flow in gal/min, when the medium is water with a Example
specific gravity = 1, and the pressure drop is 1 psi (see the Design a 25-gpm minimum bypass for a pump, discharging
C; formula for liquids). When calculating Cv, use the physi- water at 100 psig and 80F into a 50-psig drum.
cal variables of flow conditions.
The C; = 14.0 for a %-id. straight-through sharp-edge ori- t:,.P=100-50=50psi
fice is taken from Scientific Apparatus Makers' Assn. Ql = 25 gpm
(Washington, D.C.) data for the discharge ofwater for dif- Sg = 1
ferent pressures and orifice sizes. The control-valve formu-
las were published in Bulletin 64-563 by Cashco Inc. (Ells- c.: = Q/V t:,.P/S g

worth, Kan.), and were modified by the author to include = 25/\/5OVI = 3.536
compressibility for gases and the superheat factor. For D = %VCvrol14.0
cases of two-phase flow where there is a chance of cavita-
= %Y3.54/14.0
tion, use themethods found in Fisher Controls Interna-
tional, Inc. (Marshalltown, Iowa) Catalog 10. = 0.440 in.
If the plate is 0.25 in. thick, the bore is:
Confrol-valve formulas:
Dcorr = DVL/0.125
(1) = 0.440VI70.-=-2=-C5/~0.""'12=5
*1702 Henry St., Champaign, IL 61821 = 0.505 in.

Nomenclafure
Cv Valve coefficient flP Pressure drop, psi
c.; Restrictive orifice coefficient Qg Gas flowrate, std ft3/h
D Bore, in. Ql Liquid flowrate, lb/h
Dcarr Corrected bore, in. Sg Specific gravity
K Superheat factor T Temperature, R
L Plate thickness, in. sr; Degrees of superheat, F
P1 Upstream pressure, psi Z Compressibility
P2 Downstream pressure, psi

166 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING/AUGUST 17,1987