Bahir Dar Institute Faculty of

of Technology Chemical and Food Engineering

Lecture – II
Integrated Process Design: The Input/Output Structure
of the Process and Process flow sheet
(Reading Material: Coulson & Richardson’s
Chemical engineering series-Volume 6 (Chapter 4)

2015 E.C Nigus Gabbiye Habtu (PhD)

The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

Why we Need Flow sheet?

➢ To formulate appropriate process diagrams and be skilled in
analyzing and interpreting diagrams prepared by others.
➢ Need of safety procedures(high chemical reactivity, high toxicity,
and high corrosivity operating at high pressures and
temperatures)- leading to potentially serious consequences including
• explosions,
• environmental damage
• threats to people’s health.

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 The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

❑ A Process Flow Diagram has multiple purposes:

• To document a process for better understanding, quality control
and training of employees.

• To standardize a process for optimal efficiency and repeatability.

• To study a process for efficiency and improvement. It helps to

show unnecessary steps, bottlenecks and other inefficiencies.

• To model a better process or create a brand-new process.

• To communicate and collaborate with diagrams that speak to

various roles in the organization or outside of it

➢The most effective way of communicating information about a process is

through the use of flow diagrams.

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

Three diagrams that are important to chemical/process engineers:

▪ Block Flow Diagram(BFD),

▪ Process Flow Diagram(PFD)
▪ Piping and Instrumentation Diagram(P & ID).

Complexity
Conceptual
increase as
understanding increase

▪ As chemical/process engineers, we are most familiar with

BFD & PFD
▪ Most unique for chemical/process engineers

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
I. Block flow diagram(BFD): Block Flow Process Diagram
▪ It consisted of a series of blocks representing different equipment or unit operations that
were connected by input and output streams.
▪ Important information such as operating temperatures, pressures, conversions, and yield
was included on the diagram along with flow rates and some chemical compositions.
▪ However, the diagram did not include any details of equipment within any of the blocks

Process Description Block flow diagram

▪ “Toluene and hydrogen are converted in a reactor
to produce benzene and methane. The reaction
does not go to completion, and excess toluene is
required. The noncondensable gases are separated
and discharged. The benzene product and the
unreacted toluene are then separated by distillation.
The toluene is then recycled back to the reactor and
the benzene removed in the product stream.”

• Can you apply an Onion Model? What

structure do you expect

➢ This block flow diagram gives a clear overview of the production of benzene, but
detailed equipments are not presented
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 The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
Conventions and Format Recommended for Laying Out a Block
Flow Diagram
▪ Operations shown by blocks.
▪ Major flow lines shown with arrows giving direction of flow.
▪ Flow goes from left to right whenever possible.
▪ Light stream (gases) toward top with heavy stream (liquids and solids)
toward bottom.
▪ Present critical information unique to process(such as a chemical
reaction) supplied.
▪ If lines cross, then the horizontal line is continuous and the vertical line
is broken (hierarchy for all drawings).
▪ Simplified material balance should be provided(Seider et al., 2004)

Horizontal lines are

dominant

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

Block flow diagram(BFD): Block Flow Plant Diagram

• This is a complicated process in which each block in this diagram represents a
complete chemical process (compressors, turbines etc…are also shown), and we
could, if we wished, draw a block flow process diagram for each block.

▪ Provide a complete picture of what

this plant does and how all the
different processes interact.
▪ But still, only limited information is
available about each process unit.
The diagram is not complicated

Figure: Block Flow Plant Diagram of a Coal to Higher Alcohol Fuels Process

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Process

• The process flow

diagram below is an
example of a
schematic or block flow
diagram and depicts
the various unit
processes within a
typical oil refinery

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

II. Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

❑ The process flow diagram (PFD) represents a quantum step up from the BFD in
terms of the amount of information that it contains.
▪ PFD contains the bulk of the chemical engineering data necessary for the
design of a chemical process.

❑ PFD will contain the following information

1. All the major pieces of equipment in the process will be represented on the diagram
along with a description of the equipment. Each piece of equipment will have assigned a
unique equipment number and a descriptive name.

2. All process flow streams will be shown and identified by a number. A description of
the process /thermodynamic conditions and chemical composition of each stream will
be included. These data will be either displayed directly on the PFD or included in an
accompanying flow summary table.

3. All utility streams supplied to major equipment that provides a process function will be
shown.
4. Basic control loops, illustrating the control strategy used to operate the process during
normal operations, will be shown.

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

➢ The basic information provided by a PFD can be

categorized into three:

• Process topology
• Stream information
• Equipment information

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
1. Process topology : Showing the connectivity and interaction between
equipment and process streams are referred to as the process topology.
▪ Each major piece of process equipment is identified by a number on the diagram.
▪ A list of the equipment numbers along with a brief descriptive name for the equipment
is printed along the top of the diagram

V- 101 P- 101 A/B E- 101 H- 101 R- 101 C- 101A/B E- 102 V- 102 v- 103 E- 103 E- 104 T- 101 E- 104 V- 104
Storage Feed Feed Feed Reactor Recycled Reactor High pre. Low pre. Feed Benzene Benzene Benzene Reflux
Tank pump Preheater heater Gas compre. Effluent Separator Separator heater Reboiler column condenser drum
cooler P- 102A/B P- 105
Reflux Eroduct
pump cooler

Figure: Skeleton Process Flow Diagram (PFD) for the Production of Benzene via the
Hydrodealkylation of Toluene
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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
Frequentlt used Symbols for Drawing Process Flow Diagrams

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
Conventions Used for Identifying Process Equipment

For example: consider the unit operation P-101A/B and what each number
or letter means.
▪ P-101A/B identifies the equipment as a pump.
▪ P-101A/B indicates that the pump is located in area 100 of the plant.
▪ P-101A/B indicates that this specific pump is number 01 in unit 100.
▪ P-101A/B indicates that a backup pump is installed. Thus, there are two identical
pumps P-101A and P-101B. One pump will be operating while the other is idle.

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
2. Stream Information
▪ Process streams is identified by a number in a diamond box located on the stream.

▪ The direction of the stream is identified by one or more arrowheads.

▪ The process stream numbers are used to identify streams on the PFD
▪ For small diagrams containing only
a few operations, the
characteristics of the streams such
as temperatures, pressures,
compositions, and flow rates can be
shown directly on the figure,
adjacent to the stream.
▪ This is not practical for a more
complex diagram. In this case, only
the stream number is provided on
the diagram.
▪ This indexes the stream to
information on a flow summary or
stream table, which is often
provided below the process flow
diagram. In

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
Information Provided in a Flow Summary
Required information Optional information

➢ With information from the PFD and the flow summary table, problems
regarding material balances and other problems are easily analyzed

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3. Equipment Information

• The final element of the PFD is the equipment summary. This summary provides
the information necessary to estimate the costs of equipment and furnish the
basis for the detailed design of equipment

Equipment Descriptions for PFD and PIDs

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
– The final element of the PFD is the equipment summary. This summary
provides the information necessary to estimate the costs of equipment and
furnish the basis for the detailed design of equipment.

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• Example - Table: Equipment Summary for Toluene
Hydrodealkylation PFD

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
• Equipment are identified by number and a label (name)
positioned above the equipment on the PFD
• Basic data such as size and key data are included in a separate
table (Equipment summary table)

Table: Equipment Summary

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

➢ Combining Topology, Stream

Data, and Control Strategy to
Give a PFD

• Example: Benzene Process Flow

Diagram (PFD) for the Production of
Benzene via the Hydrodealkylation of
Toluene
• Stream information is added to the
diagram by attaching “information
flags.” Examples

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

• Equipment Numbering (cont’.d)

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
III. Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID)
• The piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID), also known as mechanical flow
diagram (MFD), provides information needed by engineers to begin planning for
the construction of the plant.

• The P&ID includes every mechanical aspect of the plant except the following
information

• Piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) contains Plant construction

information(piping, process, instrumentation, etc…)

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
❑ Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P & ID)

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
❑ Basic control loops
• Often the basic control loops(those involving maintaining
material balance and reactor control) are included on the PFD
– Instrumentation and other control loops are not shown
• The final control element in nearly all chemical process
control loops is a valve

Basic Instrumentation Symbols

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process
• Basic Instrumentation Symbols

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

❑PFD Summary

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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

• Other Diagrams

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The Input/Output Structure of the Process
Table: INPUT INFORMATION
▪ The reactions and reaction conditions
▪ The desired production rate
▪ The desired product purities , or some information about product price versus
purities
▪ The raw materials and/or some information on prices versus piruties
▪ Information about the rate of reaction and the rate of catalyst deactionvation
▪ Any process constraints
▪ Any plant or site data
▪ Physical properties of all components
▪ Information concerning the safety, toxicity and environmental impact the
materials involved in the process
▪ Cost data for by-product, equipment, and utilities
➢ Information that is normally available at the initial stages of a design
problem
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The Flowsheet Structure of a Chemical Process

For example for reaction system:

➢ Identify Side reactions/by-product formation

➢ Maximum yield / Product distribution

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