Design of Plant Layout

This shall be done while considering the safety of persons and plant equipments. 

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Process industry has used the Dow Fire and Explosion Hazard Index (DOW, 1987) and the Mond Index (ICI, 1985) for many years. These indices deal with fire and explosion hazard rating of process plants. Dow and Mond Indices are rapid hazard-assessment methods for use on chemical plant, during process and plant development, and in the design of plant layout. They are best suited to later design stages when process equipment, chemical substances and process conditions are known. 

The stmctural design of an industrial building will, first, reflect the requirements of plant layout and manufacturing procedures. Apart from holding up the building envelope, stmctural members will be designed and placed to support particular static and dynamic loads. As with the plan form. 

As emphasized previously, critical mass accumulation must be prevented by proper process design and plant layout. Lemon and Eeid give a design philosophy in which each process vessel is made safe by one of the following methods ... 

Procurement of the major process equipment items began immediately, based on extrapolation of previous project data (without waiting for project-specific flowsheets and mass balance to be finalized). The basic data for the equipment would then become requirements for flowsheet and data sheet preparation, rather than vice versa. Design details arising out of plant layout could still be accepted several weeks after purchase commitment. 

Many exothermic reactions are carried out in the CPI and these result in raising the temperatures of the process fluids. Since the cost of eneigy is rising continuously, it has become imperative to maximise the heat recoveiy. The process design and plant layouts shall always be made in a manner to achieve this aim. 

Figure 1.9 Different Types of Plant Layout (a) Grade-Mounted Horizontal Inline Arrangement, and (b) Structure-Mounted Vertical Arrangement (Source Process Plant Layout and Piping Design, by E. Bausbacher and R. Hunt, 1994, reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ)...

Acceptance by plant managers Plant managers often prefer the strategies that yield more Return On Investment (ROI) and are easier to implement. So, the variation of plant layout and modification of the design of wind turbines might be suitable alternatives for long-term investments. 

It should be demonstrated, for the overall design, that suitable provision is made in the design, layout and use of the plant to reduce doses and radioactive releases from aU sources. Such provisions should include the adequate design of systems, structures and components so that exposures in all activities throughout the lifetime of the plant are reduced or, where no significant benefit accrues from the activities concerned, eliminated. Reference to the chapter of the SAR on description and conformance to the design of plant systems on this subject may be appropriate. 

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