Clearing

The lack of suitable catalysts is the most common reason preventing the exploitation of novel reaction paths. At the first stage of design, it is impossible to look ahead and see all the consequences of choosing one reaction path or another, but some things are clear even at this stage. Consider the following example. 

Paths 1 and 3 are clearly not viable. Only path 2 shows a positive economic potential when the byproduct HCl can be sold. In practice, this might be quite difficult, since the market for HCl tends to be limited. 

In describing reactor performance, selectivity is usually a more meaningful parameter than reactor yield. Reactor yield is based on the reactant fed to the reactor rather than on that which is consumed. Clearly, part of the reactant fed might be material that has been recycled rather than fresh feed. Because of this, reactor yield takes no account of the ability to separate and recycle unconverted raw materials. Reactor yield is only a meaningful parameter when it is not possible for one reason or another to recycle unconverted raw material to the reactor inlet. By constrast, the yield of the overall process is an extremely important parameter when describing the performance of the overall plant, as will be discussed later. 

Intermediate separation followed by further reaction is clearly most appropriate when the intermediate separation is straightforward, as in the case of sulfuric acid production. 

Clearly, in the liquid phase much higher concentrations of Cfeed (kmol m ) can be maintained than in the gas phase. This makes liquid-phase reactions in general more rapid and hence leads to smaller reactor volumes for liquid-phase reactors. 

Clearly, the separation configurations shown in Fig. 4.2 change between different processes as the order of volatility between the components changes. ... 

Allow product integrity. Each batch of product can be clearly identified in terms of the feeds involved and conditions of processing. This is particularly important in industries such as pharmaceuticals and foodstufls. 

Clearly, the time chart shown in Fig. 4.14 indicates that individual items of equipment have a poor utilization i.e., they are in use for only a small fraction of the batch cycle time. To improve the equipment utilization, overlap batches as shown in the time-event chart in Fig. 4.15. Here, more than one batch, at difierent processing stages, resides in the process at any given time. Clearly, it is not possible to recycle directly from the separators to the reactor, since the reactor is fed at a time different from that at which the separation is carried out. A storage tank is needed to hold the recycle material. This material is then used to provide part of the feed for the next batch. The final flowsheet for batch operation is shown in Fig. 4.16. Equipment utilization might be improved further by various methods which are considered in Chap. 8 when economic tradeoffs are discussed. 

Can the loss of useful material in the purge streams he avoided or reduced by feed purification If the purge is required to remove b5q)roducts formed in the reactor, then this is clearly not possible. 

Clearly, the conflicts that have arisen in this problem have not been too helpful in identifying sequences which are candidates for further evaluation. A little more intelligence could be used in apphcation of the heuristics, and they could be ranked in order of... 

Specifying the hot utility or cold utility or AT m fixes the relative position of the two curves. As with the simple problem in Fig. 6.2, the relative position of the two curves is a degree of freedom at our disposal. Again, the relative position of the two curves can be changed by moving them horizontally relative to each other. Clearly, to consider heat recovery from hot streams into cold, the hot composite must be in a position such that everywhere it is above the cold composite for feasible heat transfer. Thereafter, the relative position of the curves can be chosen. Figure 6.56 shows the curves set to ATn,in = 20°C. The hot and cold utility targets are now increased to 11.5 and 14 MW, respectively. 

Consider now the possibility of transferring heat between these two systems (see Fig. 6.76). Figure 6.76 shows that it is possible to transfer heat from hot streams above the pinch to cold streams below. The pinch temperature for hot streams for the problem is 150°C, and that for cold streams is 140°C. Transfer of heat from above the pinch to below as shown in Fig. 6.76 transfers heat from hot streams with a temperature of 150°C or greater into cold streams with a temperature of 140°C or less. This is clearly possible. By contrast. Fig. 6.7c shows that transfer from hot streams below the pinch to cold streams above is not possible. Such transfer requires heat being transferred from hot streams with a temperature of 150°C or less into cold streams with a temperature of 140°C or greater. This is clearly not possible (without violating the ATmin constraint). 

Clearly, the potential hazard from runaway reactions is reduced by reducing the inventory of material in the reactor. Batch operation requires a larger inventory than the corresponding continuous reactor. Thus there may be a safety incentive to change from batch to continuous operation. Alternatively, the batch operation can be... 

Recycle waste streams directly. Sometimes waste can be reduced by recycling waste streams directly. If this can be done, it is clearly the simplest way to reduce waste and should be considered first. Most often, the waste streams that can be recycled directly are aqueous streams which, although contaminated, can substitute part of the freshwater feed to the process. 

If waste streams can be recycled directly, this is clearly the simplest method for reducing waste. Most often, though, additional separation is required or a different separation method is needed to reduce waste. 

Clearly, some of these measures to reduce waste in process operations—such as design for low process inventory—can be taken into consideration at the early stages of design, but many cannot. We should be aware of the problem and do whatever we can in the early stages to prevent problems later. 

The major products of combustion are CO2, water, SO, and NO. The products of combustion are clearly beshminimized by making the process efficient in its use of energy through improved heat recovery and avoiding unnecessary incineration through minimization of process waste. 

Flue gas recirculation. Recirculation of part of the flue gas as shown in Fig. 11.4 lowers the peak flame temperature, thus reducing formation. There is clearly a limit to how much flue gas can be recirculated without affecting the stability of the flame. 

When viewing effluent treatment methods, it is clear that the basic problem of disposing of waste material safety is, in many cases, not so much solved but moved from one place to another. The fundamental problem is that once waste has been created, it cannot be destroyed. The waste can be concentrated or diluted, its physical or chemical form can be changed, but it cannot be destroyed. 

It must be clear that the best method for dealing with effluent problems is to solve the problem at source, i.e., waste minimization. 

If botb reboiler and condenser are integrated with the process, this can make the column difficult to start up and control. However, when the integration is considered more closely, it becomes clear that both the reboiler and condenser do not need td be integrated. Above the pinch the reboiler can be serviced directly from hot utility with the condenser integrated above the pinch. In this case the overall utility consumption will be the same as that shown in Fig. 14.16. Below the pinch the condenser can be serviced directly by cold utility with the reboiler integrated below the pinch. Now tlje overall utility consumption will be the same as that shown in Fig. 14.1c. 

Let us now consider a few examples for the use of this simple representation. A grand composite curve is shown in Fig. 14.2. The distillation column reboiler and condenser duties are shown separately and are matched against it. Neither of the distillation columns in Fig. 14.2 fits. The column in Fig. 14.2a is clearly across the pinch. The distillation column in Fig. 14.26 does not fit, despite the fact that both reboiler and condenser temperatures are above the pinch. Strictly speaking, it is not appropriately placed, and yet some energy can be saved. By contrast, the distillation shown in Fig. 14.3a fits. The reboiler duty can be supplied by the hot utility. The condenser duty must be integrated with the rest of the process. Another example is shown in Fig. 14.36. This distillation also fits. The reboiler duty must be supplied by integration with the process. Part of the condenser duty must be integrated, but the remainder of the condenser duty can be rejected to the cold utility. 

The concept of the appropriate placement of distillation columns was developed in the preceding chapter. The principle also clearly applies to evaporators. The heat integration characteristics of distillation columns and evaporators are very similar. Thus evaporator placement should be not across the pinch. ... 

Clearly, in designs different from those in Figs. 16.13 and 16.14 when streams are split to satisfy the CP inequality, this might create a problem with the number of streams at the pinch such that Eqs. (16.3) and (16.4) are no longer satisfied. This would then require further stream splits to satisfy the stream number criterion. Figure 16.15 presents algorithms for the overall approach. ... 

Historically an earth was a non-metallic substance, nearly insoluble in water and unchanged on heating. The alkaline earth oxides, e.g. CaO, have an alkaline reaction in addition to being clearly earths . 

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