CHE 121 INTRODUCTION TO CHEMICAL

ENGINEERING

CHAPTER 3

UTILITIES IN CHEMICAL
PROCESS INDUSTRIES
 UTILITIES IN CHEMICAL PROCESS IND.
What to cover today?

- Raw water/ firewater/ cooling water supply

- Steam/ condensate system
- Refrigeration system

Course Learning Outcomes?

• Describe the purpose of each utilities in chem. Process ind.
• Identify the basic equipment components found in each utilities
• Explain the purpose of equipment components found in each
utilities
• Explain the operation of each utilities
• Discuss the specific safety, health and environmental concerns
associated with the utilities
WHAT ARE UTILITIES?
• All process plants are dependent on its utilities for their operation
• The example utilities needed:
• Water supply
• Compressed air
• Electricity
• Waste treatment
• Nitrogen gas
• And many more

These are supplied through utility networks and their

associated equipment
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

• The supply for the raw water (RW) and fire

water (FW) systems comes from the raw water
reservoir supplied from municipal sources or
local rivers and lakes

• Plant usage of RW is as follows:

Service/utility station water hoses
Potable water system
Fire water system
Cooling Water supply
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

• Raw water supply:

RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

Safety and environmental concerns associated

with the system :
• cross-contamination issues with other plant
water systems.
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

• Fire water is supplied to the plant by pumps,

which must be capable of continuing to run if
power to the plant is lost
• These pumps are typically diesel driven to
ensure operation if electric power is lost
• only run in case of a fire
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

How reliable the pump is?

• The fire water pumps are instrumented to
start automatically when the fire water system
pressure declines below 110 psig.
The first backup pump starts at 110 psig;
the second diesel-driven pump starts at 100
psig;
the third diesel driven pump starts when the
system pressure drops to 90 psig.
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

These pumps can also be remotely started from

the utility’s unit control centre.
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

Safety and environmental concerns associated

with the system

Runoff – toxic and or flammable material can

be in the run-off water, which may spread the
fire and/or pollute the surrounding
environment
Suffocation - caused by fire, smoke, or deluge
Diminished vision - caused by fire, smoke or
deluge
Slips/trips/falls - caused by water and climbing
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

• Cooling water systems (with or without

cooling towers) remove heat from process
streams and equipment by circulating water.
• The cooling water (CW) system is used for
cooling the various pieces of equipment in the
facility in a closed cooling system.
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY
Components associated with cooling water system:

• Cooling tower – device used to remove heat from

water through evaporation
• Basin – collection point at bottom of tower
• Pumps – maintain circulation through exchangers
and back to tower
• Exchangers – equipment through which cooling
water flows for heat transfer; used to cool other
process liquids
• Water supply source – river, city water
authorities, etc.
 Once
through

Types of
cooling
system
Open Closed non-
evaporative evaporative
recirculating recirculating
 • Once through
- Cooling water passes through the
heat exchanger once.

- Once through systems can be

used when plenty of cheap cool
water is available (normally uses
river water nearby) and adequate
facilities for disposal of warm
water exist
- Advantage: no cooling tower system, no water treating
- Disadvantage: corrosion, fouling, waste of water, thermal
pollution of river
 • Open evaporative
recirculating systems
- Cooling water evaporate about 1%
water. Water is reused after
makeup
- Open evaporative is normally used
in refinery cooling tower system

Advantage: less water required because of circulation, enhanced

corrosion control feasible as there is blowdown
Disadvantage: higher capital cost than once through, large cooling towers
may be unacceptable, system purge (blowdown) may pose environmental
problem
 • Closed non-evaporative
recirculating systems
- Cooling water is cooled in a
secondary (air) heat exchanger.
No evaporate, no makeup, no
blowdown
- Examples include compressor
jackets and car radiators.

-Advantages: water remains clear, cooling temperature of above 100 ˚C is

possible
-Disadvantage: high capital cost, limited by air temperature
COOLING TOWER
COOLING TOWER
COOLING TOWER SYSTEM
COOLING TOWER SYSTEM
RAW WATER/ FIREWATER / COOLING WATER SUPPLY

Safety and environmental concerns associated with

the system

• Atmospheric contaminants
• Foaming
• Chemicals

• However, the hazards are monitored and

prevented from endangering the human health
and environments by using hydrocarbon leak
detectors and personal protective equipments.
Two common problems in Cooling tower

• Silting/sedimentation (particles in source water

Fouling e.g sand)

• scaling (precipitation of salts)
• Biological growth (heat, oxygen, phosphate)

• Scaling may cause corrosion

Corrosion

These problems may inhibit heat transfer in cooling tower or

other cooling system equipment by building op on heat
exchanger surfaces
 COOLING TOWER
Scale formation

Hence, this will

resulted in
Once the heat increasing of
transfer efficiency pumping cost
Example of is affected, it could
precipitation: decrease the
CaCO3, CaSO4 diameter of pipe
Cooling tower
Factors affecting Scale formation

Concentrati
• The higher the salt, the higher the alkalinity of water
on factor

• high pH
pH

• high T, high formation of scale (dissociation of ion is greater when

TEMPERATURE temperature rises

• enhance rough metal surface, give scaling sites

cORROSION

• low velocity (<1 m/s), increase silting and scaling

Flow velocity

• longer circulating time: long half-lives gives longer time for the following
equilibrium to be achieved
Retention time
• Ca(HCO3)2 « CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O
Scale prevention
• Higher system purge at the expense of
higher water/chemical costs: can reduce
concentration factor (CF)
• Soften make up water: using ion
exchangers
• Acid treatment – to reduce pH
• Scale inhibitors – modify scale growth
* inorganic: polyphosphates
* organic: phosphorous compounds
STEAM GENERATION & • Steam generation systems are
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM divided into three subsystems
• produces high quality separately:
and dependable steam
for energy conservation,
energy transport, energy
generation, turbine • boiler feedwater treatment
drives, heating and plant
startup/shutdown.
• Boilers system
• Steam is the most critical • distribution system
utility in a process plant,
without it there would
be a complete shutdown
of equipment and
consequently the facility.
Boiler feedwater treatment

• These systems are designed to remove solids,

turbidity, and dissolved gases from water fed to the
boilers. This helps protect the boilers from fouling,
etc.
Boiler feedwater treatment

Boiler feedwater treatment is composed of:

• Clarifiers - remove hardness from boiler feedwater

• Filters - remove any turbidity left in the water after
clarification
• Demineralization - removes dissolved solids from the water via
ion-exchange resin
• Deaerator - remove dissolved gases from the boiler feedwater
• Oxygen scavenger – chemical substance added to feedwater to
deactivate impurities and unwanted reaction products for
example oxygen
• Boilers – produce steam using a combination of radiant,
conductive and convective heat transfer
• Condensate polisher – filter liquid condensed (condensate)
from steam using polymer resins
• Boilers are used to heat/superheat the boiler
feedwater to create steam.

Equipments associated with boiler system:

• Atomizers – devices on oil fire boilers to atomize heavy
fuel oils into tiny droplets for efficient combustion
• Blowdown – withdrawal of water from the boiler to
maintain a solids balance within specified limits of
concentration of those solids
• Burners (gas/oil) – mix or atomize fuel and air
(sometimes steam) to provide proper combustion and
heat to the boiler
Equipments associated with:

• Downcomer – tube between the boiler top drum and

mud drum used to separate saturated water from the
top drum
• Firebox – combustion chamber
• Forced draft fan systems – fans on front of the boiler at
the point of fuel entry to provide combustion air
• Fuel systems – fuel control system to the boiler that is
controlled by steam demand (pressure on the boiler, as
demand goes up, pressure goes down)
Equipments associated with:

• Induced draft fan systems – fans on the stack of boiler

used to pull combustion air into the boiler
• Mud drum – settling chamber located in the boiler
used for solids suspended in the steam
• Risers – boiler tubes connecting the mud drum outlet
to the steam drum
• Steam drum – the part of the boiler where water
flashes to steam
• Tubes – series of lines throughout the boiler that carry
cold and hot water; designed to condense and heat the
water to create steam and condensed liquids
Operating principles of a boiler system:

• operates under the principle of differential density.

• When a fluid is heated, it expands and becomes less
dense.
• Cooler water flows from the upper or steam drum
through the downcomers to the mud drum (the
lower drum) and then rises as some steam is
generated.
• Circulation continues, and makeup water is added
to the upper drum to replace the steam that is
generated.
STEAM DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

• To distribute high-pressure steam to process

users throughout the facility namely
reboilers, turbines, ejectors, flare systems,
diluents in reaction system and plant start
up/shutdown.
 STEAM DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
• Steam systems can
include super-high-
pressure (SHP)
steam generation
and distribution,
high-pressure (HP)
steam, medium-
pressure (MP)
steam, and low-
pressure (LP) steam.
 STEAM DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

• Condensate collection tanks

• Condensate treatment – helps minimize corrosion of
equipment
• Expansion loop – a loop designed into the piping system
to absorb the stresses of expansion and contraction
caused by the heating/cooling of that system by the
process
• Flash tank – allows hot condensate from a pressurized
condensate return system to flash to steam (usually to
atmosphere) so it can be pumped back into the boiler
feed water
• Piping systems – route the steam to end users
• Pressure control
• Steam traps/strainers – used to drain water from steam
system
STEAM GENERATION & DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Safety and environmental concerns associated with the system

• Air pollution (inefficient fuel burn)

• Condensate removal (equipment damage & water hammer)
• Fuel-air explosions
• High pressure
• High temperature
• Hot spots
• Noise level
• Ruptures in transfer line exchanger or quench boiler tubes
• Steam leaks
• Instrument failures
• Using water treatment chemicals
• The purpose of a refrigeration system is to remove
heat from a process requiring less than ambient
temperatures.

• Some of the applications of refrigeration systems

in industry are:
 To chill process flow
 To condense gas so it can be handled as a liquid
 To dry air or other gases
Refrigeration systems are composed of:

• Compressor - increases pressure of refrigerant vapor

• Condenser (reciprocating and centrifugal) - condenses
compressed refrigerant vapor to return it to liquid state
• Receiver - holds liquid refrigerant, allowing for entrained
lubricating and seal oils to settle; supplies liquid refrigerant to
the evaporator
• Evaporator (chiller) - location where the heat transfer occurs;
warm process fluid flows through the evaporator and liquid
refrigerant flows through coils
• Expansion valve - decreases pressure on the liquid refrigerant
before it enters the evaporator
• Refrigerant - fluid that boils at very low temperatures.
Examples include freon, propylene, ethylene, and ammonia
 Cooling
BATCH REACTOR

process
Compression
process

Refrigeration
Process
 • low-pressure refrigerant gas is converted into high-pressure
refrigeration gas in compressor
Refrigeration • The HP gas is pushed into a shell and tube heat exchanger.
BATCH REACTOR
 • a tremendous amount of heat is generated
Compression and must be removed by the exchanger.
BATCH REACTOR
 • the gas condenses into liquid phase and is collected in a
receiver.
• From the receiver, the high-pressure liquid refrigerant is
pushed through a small opening in an expansion valve.
• As the liquid expands, it changes phase. The boiling point of
the refrigerant is so low that a cooling effect occurs in the
Cooling evaporator.
BATCH REACTOR

• As the low-pressure refrigerant leaves the evaporator, it

enters into the suction side of the compressor and the
process begins again.
REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

Safety and environmental concerns associated

with the system
• Flammable fluids
• Toxic fluids
• High pressure
• Extremely cold temperatures (cryogenics)
• Extremely hot temperatures
• High vibration (can damage equipment)
• Moving parts
• Noise and Leaks
 CHE 121 INTRODUCTION TO CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING

CHAPTER 3

UTILITIES IN CHEMICAL
PROCESS INDUSTRIES
 UTILITIES IN CHEMICAL PROCESS IND.
What to cover today?

- Plant / instrument air system

- Electricity
- Nitrogen system

Course Learning Outcomes?

• Describe the purpose of each utilities in chem. Process ind.
• Identify the basic equipment components found in each utilities
• Explain the purpose of equipment components found in each
utilities
• Explain the operation of each utilities
• Discuss the specific safety, health and environmental concerns
associated with the utilities
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM

1) Compressor 1 – Steam
Turbine driven – low
capacity
2) Compressor 2 – Electric
Motor driven – low
capacity
3) Compressor 3 – Steam
Turbine driven – high
capacity
4) Compressor 4 – Electric
Motor driven – high
capacity
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM

The function of utility air systems:

• Provide air to operate various plant equipment and

tools
• Provide air for process use
• Decoking furnaces and regenerating catalysts
• Dry equipment
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM
Utility air systems are composed of:

Compressor – increases air pressure

Distribution system – a series of pipes that routes air to plant users
Exchangers – maintain cool temperatures
Filters – remove dirt, oil, moisture from air supply
Pressure control systems – regulate system pressure
Pumps – provide circulation of lube oil and cooling water for the
compressor
Safety relief valves – protect system from over pressurization by
relieving excess pressure
Storage tank, also called a receiver – acts as a knock-up drum for
moisture and oil; provides a volume buffer between compressor
and system to maintain an even flow rate while the compressor
loads and unloads on demand.
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM

Safety concerns associated with the system:

o High pressure can cause personal injury or damage to

equipment
o Particulates can cause personal injury by imbedding in
skin or eyes and foul lines and equipment
o Entrained water/oil – same as particulates
o Hose whipping – high pressure air through hose can
cause it to whip around – can cause personal injury or
damage equipment
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM

The purpose of instrument air systems:

 Provide air to operate valves

 Provide clean, dry purge air
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM
Components associated with the instrument air systems:

• Compressor – increases pressure

• Filters – remove dirt and entrained moisture and oil
from the air flow
• Dryers – used to lower dew point of air using activated
alumina desiccant
• Storage tank/volume tank/supply tank
• Distribution system – a series of pipes routing air to
plant users
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM

• Sampling systems – monitor air quality

• Regulating systems – regulate air pressure and/or flow
rate
• Moisture separators – first stage of moisture removal.
• Knock-out stations – moisture separators
• Oil separator – a filter that removes any oil not
removed in the moisture separator
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM

• Instrument air is dried to approximately – 45.55°C dew

point with activated alumina desiccant.
• is protected against low pressure (as a result of
excessive utility air usage) by an upstream pressure
controller in the utility air system.

• At some locations the plant instrument air system is

protected against pressure failure by a tie-in to the
nitrogen (N2) system. Because of safety concerns,
nitrogen is admitted into the instrument air system only
during an emergency.
PLANT AIR SYSTEM / INSTRUMENT AIR SYSTEM

Typical safety concerns associated with the system:

Cross connections – wrong connections to the utility /

process equipment which may cause explosion
 ELECTRICITY

Various types of power systems:

• Off-site sources – power companies example TNB and Sarawak Energy

• Steam – steam driven turbines powered by steam from the primary
steam generation plant (boiler-house) - usually at least 2 generators
• Co-gen is generation of electricity using waste heat from processes to
make steam and drive generators. It feeds into the power system at the point
of commercial power source. If production exceeds needs, then the power
company buys excess. If product does not meet demand, then commercial
power makes up the rest.
• Gas generators operate on diesel fuel
• Emergency generators are backup systems to ensure power
• Portable generators can be used in remote locations
• Battery systems provide uninterrupted power to ensure limited power
supply in the event of a power outage
ELECTRICITY
 ELECTRICITY

Components associated with electrical power generation and

distribution systems:

• 3-phase power – greater than 110 V; usually main power

supply
• Bus tie breakers – circuit breakers or switches between buses
• Buses – usually an non-insulated bar or tub used as an
electrical conductor
• Circuit breakers – a programmable switch placed in a circuit
designed to open and disconnect power at a pre-set load.
Protects wiring and circuits from overload.
• Feeders – are wire conducts that supply electricity to an
electrical distribution system or electrical
equipment/machinery
• Fuses – devices used to protect against power overload
ELECTRICITY

• Motor control center (MCC) - an area or building that

houses the electrical distribution equipment that
provides power to electric motors and equipment
• Primary feeder – electrical wire that carries very high
voltages from substations to the transformers at the
MCCs
• Relays – electrically actuated device to transmit signals
to other parts of an electrical circuit
• Secondary feeders – electrical wire carries the power
from transformers to point to use in the MCC
 ELECTRICITY
• Substations – area where transformers are located that
step down primary or high voltage to secondary voltages
• Switch gear – apparatus used to switch from one
electrical circuit to another
• Transformer – a device used to change the voltage,
usually raising or lowering it, in an alternating current
circuit
• Transmission lines – the high powers used by electric
companies to transmit power from the power
generation plant to substations
• UPS – uninterruptible power supply consisting of
batteries, battery charger, inverter, static transfer switch,
bypass transformer and maintenance bypass switch;
provides power to alarms, plant DCS systems, and
 ELECTRICITY
• UPS – uninterruptible power supply consisting of
batteries, battery charger, inverter, static transfer switch,
bypass transformer and maintenance bypass switch;
provides power to alarms, plant DCS systems, and
instrumentation systems
 OPERATING PRINCIPLES

100 – 160
kV
ELECTRICITY

Typical safety concerns associated with the system:

• Shock hazards – can cause electrocution/death

• Flash hazards – can cause fires
• Arcing – can trip equipment
Nitrogen System

Main Application: inerting purposes.

• The main inert gas used in industry is nitrogen.
• Sometimes argon and carbon dioxide can also be
used.
• Other inert gases include helium, krypton, neon
and xenon
• Mostly consumed in gaseous form although
there are a few users of liquid nitrogen.
• E.g the medical and pharmaceutical industries
use liquid nitrogen for storage of biological
tissue or samples at very low temperatures.
• Another user of liquid nitrogen is the metals
industry in purging casting mould prior to
pouring metal into them.
Other applications:

• Purging/air-freeing systems and equipment

• Blanketing flammable or O2 sensitive mixture
• Backing up instrument air
• Process gas stream diluent
• Transferring flammable or O2 sensitive liquids
between vessels
• Propellant
• Stripping
• Cooling
• Cryogenics
 Nitrogen
source

On site
Delivered
generation
• On-site generation is best for steady/predictable N2 demands.
• Delivered supply (liquid storage tank) provides sufficient hold
up to accommodate fluctuations.
Selecting N2 supply depends on:

• Flow rate required

• Purification of N2 required *
• Pattern of demand
• Cost of electrical power available on-site
• Temperature (coolant) and pressure of supply required
*
• Liquid or gas N2 required *

* N2 specifications, these determine which options are

technically feasible.
Components associated with the nitrogen systems:

• Storage sphere is a vessel used to store liquid nitrogen N2

• Vaporizer - heat exchanger used to convert (vaporize) liquid N2 to
a gaseous state
• Control system is a system that controls system pressure,
vaporization rate; monitors storage level
• Letdown valves control pressure by reducing from higher to
lower pressure
• Check valves prevent backflow of nitrogen
• Regulator is a valve in the control system that regulates the
pressure on the distribution system
• Distribution systems are a series of pipes to distribute nitrogen to
plant users
Operating principles of nitrogen systems:

Nitrogen that is purchased from supplier usually delivered

by high-pressure pipeline which run from 300 to 600 psig.
The supplier may own and operate the meter station,
which forms the billing basis for the purchase of nitrogen.

High-pressure nitrogen is delivered to the individual units

in which the pressure is reduced to the desired working
pressure, which is usually 120 to 150 psig.
Typical safety concerns associated with the system:

Cross connections – the technician may think he has purged

a line with nitrogen when it was actually utility air; could
cause explosive conditions
Oxygen deprivation – nitrogen is an asphyxiant
Freeze burns – cryogenics