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Input Information: (Available at The Initial Stages of A Design Problem)

The document discusses key differences between batch and continuous processes for chemical production. It notes that continuous processes are more common for large commodity chemical plants while batch processes are more suitable for specialty or lower volume production due to flexibility. The document provides guidelines for selecting batch processes and notes additional design considerations needed for batch processes compared to continuous ones.

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Hritik Lal
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45 views17 pages

Input Information: (Available at The Initial Stages of A Design Problem)

The document discusses key differences between batch and continuous processes for chemical production. It notes that continuous processes are more common for large commodity chemical plants while batch processes are more suitable for specialty or lower volume production due to flexibility. The document provides guidelines for selecting batch processes and notes additional design considerations needed for batch processes compared to continuous ones.

Uploaded by

Hritik Lal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 4

INPUT INFORMATION AND BATCH V.s. CONTINUOUS

Input Information (Available at the initial stages of a design problem)

• The reaction and reaction conditions


• The desired production rate.
• Product purity or price v/s purity.
• The raw materials or price v/s purity.
• Information about the rate of reaction and rate of catalyst
deactivation.
• Any processing constraints.
• Other plant and site data.
• Physical properties of all components.
• Information concerning the safety, toxicity and environmental
impact of the
the materials involved in the process.
• Cost data for by-products, equipments and utilities.
REACTION INFORMATION

• The stoichiometry of all reactions that take place.

• The range of temperatures and pressures for the reactions.


• The phase(s) of the reaction systems
• Information on the product distribution vs conversion
• Information about conversion v/s space velocity or residence
time.
• If catalyst is used, some information about the state of catalyst
• Catalyst deactivation rate and method of regeneration
SIDE REACTIONS – Information of the by product produced
is very important.

MAXIMUM YIELD – Information concerning how the product


distribution changes with conversion and / or reactor
temperature, molar ratio of the reactants etc. is difficult to
obtain.

CATALYST DEACTIVATION

• Catalyst deactivation rate.


• Time consuming experiment is required to find the
deactivation rate.
PRODUCTION RATE
• For large capacity plants, we obtain the greatest economy of
scale
• The maximum size of plant is fixed by the maximum size of one
or more pieces of equipment.
• By gaining a large economy of scale, market share can be
increased but new types of management problems might lead to
significant increase in cost.
• Market conditions are continuously changing and we must be
responsive to these changes.
PRODUCT PURITY –

• Normally fixed by marketing considerations.

• It might be possible to produce a range of product purities at different


prices.

RAW MATERIALS –
 A chemist normally uses very pure chemical reagents for

laboratory studies.
 Purchased or natural raw materials always contain some
impurities.
CONSTRAINTS –

• For the sake of safety, we normally want to avoid processing


condition which is within the explosive limits of a mixture.
• At certain processing conditions, some of our materials might
polymerise and foul heat exchanger surfaces.
OTHER PLANT AND SITE DATA –
The battery limit conditions and costs that we need to know
about are as follows:
1. Utilities –

 Fuel Supply.

 Levels of steam pressure.


 Cooling water inlet and outlet temperatures.

 Refrigeration levels.
 Electric power.

2. Waste Disposal facilities


 
PHYSICAL PROPERTY DATA –

• We normally require information about molecular weights,


B.P.s, V.P.s, Cps, heat of vaporization, heat of reaction, liquid
densities, fugacity coefficients (equation of state).
• For conceptual designs, we use available information (in some
cases the guess value) and then we estimate the sensitivity of
the total processing cost to these values.
• Sensitivity evaluation provides a measure of the economic
incentive for making the appropriate measurements.
COST DATA
• Capital cost of equipments and some operating costs.

• In general, about the input information.

“YOU NEVER HAVE THE RIGHT INFORMATION”


LEVEL I DECISION

Batch Vs Continuous

• Continuous – every unit will operate continuously


• Batch processes contain several units ( in some cases all units)
that are designed to be started and stopped frequently.
• Sometimes batch Processes contain one or more units that
operate continuously.
LEVEL I DECISION

Batch Vs Continuous
• Continuous processes are dominant in the chemical process industries

for the manufacture of commodity chemicals , plastics, petroleum


products, paper etc.
• When production rates are low, however-say, in the manufacture of
specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and electronic materials , it is
difficult to justify the construction of a continuous plant comprised of
small vessels and pipe.
• In these cases-it is common to design batch processes or semi continuous
processes that are hybrids of batch and continuous processes
LEVEL I DECISION

Guidelines for selecting batch processes –


 
• Production Rates- Plants having capacity > 10*106 lb/yr are usually
continuous.

• Large capacity plants can justify more thorough development program,

• Batch plants are usually simpler & more flexible, so that a satisfactory
product can be produced with a larger uncertainty in the design.

• Because of their greater flexibility, batch plants are most common when a
large no. of products are produced in essentially the same processing
equipment (e.g. paints)

 
Market Forces –
• Batch plants often are prepared for the products with a seasonal
demand

Operational Problems –
• For slow reactions - batch process
• It is very difficult to pump slurries at low flowrates without the
solid settling out of suspension and plugging the equipment.
• Batch Process is ideal for materials which foul equipment so
rapidly. Frequent cleaning is required. 

Multiple Operations In a Single Vessel –


• Several operations can be carried out in a single batch vessel
• Individual vessel is required for each of the operations in a
continuous plant
DESIGN OF BATCH V/S CONTINUOUS PROCESS

To develop a conceptual design for a continuous process,


we must do the following

• Select the process units needed


• Choose the interconnections among these units
• Identify the process alternatives that need to be considered
• List the dominant design variables
• Estimate the optimum processing conditions
• Determine the best process alternative
 
 
DESIGN OF BATCH V/S CONTINUOUS PROCESS

For a batch process we must make exactly the same decisions.

However, we must also make the following decisions-


 
• Which units in the flow-sheet should be batch & which should be continuous

• What processing steps should be carried out in a single vessel Vs using

individual vessels for each processing Step I

• When is it advantageous to use parallel units to improve the scheduling of the

plant

• How much intermediate storage is required & where should it be located


 
 
Systematic procedure for design of batch process –
 

• More decisions to design a batch process

• Best approach to design a batch process is to design a continuous


process first
• With this approach it is simpler to screen the alternatives & to
determine the process flow-sheet.

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