PROCESS UNITS

BASIC FUNCTION
Divider (Splitter)
• A splitter is used to divide the flow rate in a certain stream into two or
more streams with different flow rates.
Mixer (Blender)
• The mixing process has the following characteristics: There are two or
more entering streams, and only one exit stream resulting from the
blending of the incoming streams. The streams can be in any phase,
that is, gas, liquid, or solid.
Dryer (Direct Heating)
• Drying is a mass transfer process resulting in the removal of moisture
by evaporation from a solid, semisolid, or liquid to produce a solid
state. To achieve this operation, the dryer is supplied with a source of
heat. Vapor is produced in the process.
• Resulting dried products are in solid phase. Dried solids may not be
solvent free. Feed can be solid, slurry, or solution.
Filter
• Filtration is a technique used either to remove impurities from a
liquid or to isolate a solid from a fluid. Filtration is commonly a
mechanical or a physical operation that is used for the separation of
solids from fluids (liquids or gases) by interposing a medium through
which only the fluid can pass.
• In the filtration process, filtrate, the exit liquid, is free of solids. The
filtrate is saturated with soluble components. The filter cake remains
with some liquid left out;
Distillation Column
• Distillation is a method of separating chemical substances based on
differences in their volatilities. Distillation usually forms part of a
larger chemical process. In the distillation column, more volatile
components are in the distillate, while less volatile components are in
the bottoms. Separation is accomplished by boiling.
• Each tray accomplishes a fraction of the separation task by
transferring the more volatile species to the gas phase and the less
volatile species to the liquid phase.
• Material and energy balances can be performed on an individual tray,
the column, bottom reboiler, or top condenser, or the entire system.
Multi-effect Evaporator
• The process of evaporation is used in the different branches of the
industry for food or chemicals processes, in which the concentration
of the solutions is required.
• Theoretically, multiple-effect evaporators allow decreased
consumption of energy for a concentration almost proportionally
equal to the number of effects (evaporators).
• However, being expensive, evaporators require the reduction in the
number of effects, in order to be cost-effective. The optimal number
of effects is generally determined via calculations.
Dehumidification
• A dehumidifier with internal cooling or heating coils
• It is a device that reduces the level of humidity in air or a gas stream.
• A dehumidification process has the following characteristics: Feed
stream contains a condensable component and a noncondensable
component, and the condensate is a liquid with the condensable
component only, such as water in air;
Humidifier
• Humidifier is a device that increases the amount of moisture in indoor
air or a stream of air.
• It operates by allowing water to evaporate from a pan or a wetted
surface, or by circulating air through an air-washer compartment that
contains moisture.
• Humidifier processes have the following characteristics: Feed gas is
not saturated, liquid is evaporated in the process unit, and exit
product may or may not be saturated
Leaching and Extraction
• Leaching is the removal of materials from solids by dissolving them. The
chemical process industries use leaching, but the process is usually called
extraction. Leaching of toxic materials into groundwater is a major health
concern.
• Extraction processes have the following characteristics: Two liquid solvents
must be immiscible and have different specific gravities, and at least one
component is transferred from one solvent to the other by a difference in
solubility.
• The process is often called liquid–liquid extraction. If one of the feed
streams is a solid, the process is called leaching or liquid–solid extraction
• In leaching, the liquid to which materials are extracted from a carrier is not
always a solvent.
Absorber (Stripper)
• In gas absorption, a soluble component is absorbed by contact with a
liquid phase in which the component is soluble. An absorber is often
called a scrubber
• This system is used for absorbing impurities from a gas stream of
certain components such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and
ammonia, using a suitable solvent.
• Absorption processes have the following characteristics: The purpose
of the unit is to have the liquid absorb a component from the feed
gas. The liquid stream flows down through the tower due to gravity,
while the gas stream is pumped upward through the tower. No carrier
gas is transferred to the liquid.
Absorber (Stripper)
• Generally, no liquid solvent is transferred to the gas stream.
Desorption is the same process as gas absorption except that the
component transferred leaves the liquid phase and enters the gas
phase.
• In general, in an absorption tower (absorber), a gas is contacted with
a liquid such that one or more components in the gas are transferred
into the liquid.
• A stripping tower (stripper) also involves a gas contacting a liquid, but
components are transferred from the liquid into the gas.
Partial Condenser and Flash Separator
• A partial condenser partly condenses a vapor stream.
• Partial condensers have the following characteristics: Feed stream
contains only condensable vapor components, and exit streams
contain liquid, L, and vapor, V, which are in equilibrium.
• Condensation is caused by cooling or increasing pressure.
• Liquid and vapor emerging from the partial condenser are separated
using a flash separator.
Flash Separator
• Flash separator splits a liquid feed into vapor- and liquid-phase
products.
• Flash units have the following characteristics: The process is the same
as that of a partial condenser except that the feed is a liquid, and
vaporization is caused by reducing the pressure or by heating. Vapor
and liquid streams are in equilibrium
Crystallizer
• Crystallizers are used in industry to achieve liquid–solid separation.
• The process for a crystallizer involves a crystallizer–filter combination
so as to separate solid crystals from a solution.
• Solid crystals are formed in the unit by a change in temperature.
• Crystallization is capable of generating high purity products with a
relatively low energy input.
Reactors
• A chemical reactor carries out a chemical reaction that converts
molecular species in the input (whereby a species loses its identity) to
different molecular species in the output.
• A reactor is often named by the chemical reaction taking place within
it.
• A reactor is sometimes preceded by a fictitious mixer, if the combined
reactor feed is specified or must be determined.
• Multiple exit streams are shown to remind you to watch for streams
that separate because of their different phases ;
Types of reactors used in industry
• The most common ones are the batch reactor, plug flow reactor
(PFR), packed bed reactor (PBR), continuous stirred tank reactor
(CSTR), and fluidized bed reactor.
• Batch Reactor- The reactor content is loaded all at once and
continuously mixed.
• The key characteristics of a batch reactor are unsteady-state operation (by
definition) and spatial uniformity of concentration and temperature (perfectly
mixed); that is, the reactor is a lumped parameter system.
• Batch operation is mainly used for small-scale production and is suitable for
slow reactions. A batch reactor is mainly (not exclusively) for liquid-phase
reactions with large charge-in/cleanup times;
Types of reactors used in industry
• PFRs and PBRs
• The key characteristics of a PFR are steady-state operation variation of
concentration and temperature on space, no mixing along the reactor but
complete mixing in the radial direction of the reactor; PBR is suitable for fast
reactions and mainly used for gas-phase reactions with difficult temperature
control, and no moving parts;
• CSTR and Fluidized Bed Reactor
• The key characteristics of a CSTR are steady-state operation, good mixing
leading to spatially uniform concentration and temperature, and the
condition of the outlet stream being the same as the condition in the reactor.
CSTR is used for liquid-phase reactions and is suitable for viscous liquids
Process Flow Diagram
• A PFD is a diagram commonly used in chemical and process
engineering to describe the general flow of plant processes and
equipment.
• PFD displays the relationship between major equipment of a plant
facility and does not show minor details such as piping and control
designations. Another commonly used term for a PFD is a flow sheet.
• In drawing the flowchart, one must know (or be able to determine)
the total amount of the flow within the stream and composition of
the stream.
• Label what you do not know with variables.
• PFDs are considered as preliminary drawings and are used to develop
initial project estimates.
• A piping and instrumentation diagram, sometimes called process and
instrumentation diagram (P&ID), is a diagram that shows the
interconnection of process equipment and the instrumentation used
to control the process. In the chemical process industry, a standard
set of symbols is used to prepare drawings of processes.
Degrees of Freedom Analysis
• When attempting to solve a material balance problem, typical
questions that may arise are: How many equations do I need, and
where do these potentially come from?
• The DFA is used to address these questions. DFA is a highly useful tool
for a systematic analysis of block flow diagrams.
• It provides a rapid means for assessing if a specific problem is
“solvable,” that is, if the information available is sufficient, and
provides a structured approach to decide on the order the equations
must be solved.
Degrees of Freedom Analysis
• Basically, one simply counts the number of independent variables and
the number of equations.
• To carry the analysis, you need to draw a flow diagram, label each
stream with the components that are present in that stream, and
make a list of additional information such as known flow rates,
compositions, ratios, and conversions.
• There are two main points here. The first has to do with drawing
“balance boundaries,” that is, the number of systems where you can
write the material balance equation.
Degrees of Freedom Analysis
• There are three rules for drawing system boundaries: draw a
boundary around each process unit, draw a boundary around
junction points, and draw a boundary around the entire process
(unless there is only one boundary).
• The second point has to do with how many equations you can write
for each drawn boundary.
• You can write as many equations as there are unique components
passing through the boundary.
Degrees of Freedom Analysis
• For a reacting system, the number of degrees of freedom (NDF) is
defined as
• NDF = number of unknowns + number of independent reactions −
number of independent material balance equations − number of
useful auxiliary relations.
Possible Outcomes of DFA
• The NDF can have three possible values, that is, if
1. NDF = 0, the system is completely defined. You get a unique
solution.
2. NDF > 0, the system is under-defined (under-specified). There
are an infinite number of solutions. More independent
equations are needed.
3. NDF < 0, the system is over-defined (over-specified). There are
too many restrictions. Check if you have too many equations or
too many restrictions. Over-defined problems cannot be solved
to be consistent with all equations.
Independent Equations
• A set of equations are said to be independent, if you cannot derive
one by adding and subtracting combinations of the others. Sources of
equations that relate unknown process variables include
1. Material balances for a nonreactive process. Usually, but not always, the
maximum number of independent equations that can be written equals the
number of chemical species in the process.
2. Energy balances.
3. Process specifications given in the problem statement.
4. Physical properties and laws, for example, density relation, gas law.
5. Physical constraints: mass or mole fractions must add to unity.
6. Stoichiometric relations for systems with chemical reactions.