Gavin Towler is the Senior Manager of Process Design, Modeling and Equipment at UO P LLC.

He manages the areas of process design and optimization, equipment design, and physical and kinetic
modeling for UOP Research and Development. As adjunct professor at Northwestern University,
he teaches the chemical engineering senior design classes. H e is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of
the Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Ray Sinnott began his career in design and development with several major companies, including
DuPont and John Brown. H e later joined the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of
Wales, Swansea, UK, publishing the rst edition of Chemical Engineering Design in 1983. He is a
Chartered Engineer, Eur. Ing. and Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.

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Chemical Engineering

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As a Sen ior Desi g n Cour se Tex t b ook

As an In t r od uct or y Ch em ical En g in eer in g Tex t b ook

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Sup p l em en t ar y M at er i al

Resour ces f or In st r uct or s

Chemical
Enginering Design

Lect ure Slides

Image Bank

Inst ruct ors Manual

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Inverness, Illinois

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INTRODUCTION
TO DESIGN

Ch ap t er Con t en t s
1.1. In t r o d uct ion
1.2. Nat u r e of Desig n
1.3. Th e An at om y of a Ch em ical M an uf act ur in g Pr ocess
1.4. Th e Or g an izat i on of a Ch em i cal En g in eer i n g Pr oj ect
1.5. Pr oject Docum en t at ion
1.6. Cod es an d St an d ar d s
1.7. Desi g n Fact or s ( Desig n M ar g i n s)
1.8. Syst em s of Un it s
1.9. Op t i m izat ion
1.10. Ref er en ces
1.11. Nom en clat ur e
1.12. Pr ob l em s

Key Learning Objectives

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How design projects are carried out and documented in industry

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Why engineers in industry use codes and standards and build margins into their designs

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How to improve a design using optimization methods

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Why experienced design engineers very rarely use rigorous optimization methods in
industrial practice

1.1.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN

INTRODUCTION
This chapter is an introduction to the nature and methodology of the design process
and its application to the design of chemical manufacturing processes.

1.2.

NATURE OF DESIGN
This section is a general discussion of the design process. The subject of this book is
chemical engineering design, but the methodology described in this section applies
equally to other branches of engineering.
Chemical engineering has consistently been one of the highest paid engineering
professions. There is a demand for chemical engineers in many sectors of industry,
including the traditional processing industries: chemicals, polymers, fuels, foods, pharmaceuticals, and paper, as well as other sectors such as electronic materials and devices,
consumer products, mining and metals extraction, biomedical implants, and power
generation.
The reason that companies in such a diverse range of industries value chemical
engineers so highly is the following:
Starting from a vaguely dened problem statement such as a customer need or a set of
experimental results, chemical engineers can develop an understanding of the important
underlying physical science relevant to the problem and use this understanding to create a
plan of action and set of detailed specications which, if implemented, will lead to a
predicted nancial outcome.

The creation of plans and specications and the prediction of the nancial outcome
if the plans were implemented is the activity of chemical engineering design.
Design is a creative activity, and as such can be one of the most rewarding and
satisfying activities undertaken by an engineer. The design does not exist at the start of
the project. The designer begins with a specic objective or customer need in mind
and, by developing and evaluating possible designs, arrives at the best way of achieving that objectivebe it a better chair, a new bridge, or for the chemical engineer,
a new chemical product or production process.
When considering possible ways of achieving the objective, the designer will be
constrained by many factors, which will narrow down the number of possible designs.
There will rarely be just one possible solution to the problem, just one design. Several
alternative ways of meeting the objective will normally be possible, even several best
designs, depending on the nature of the constraints.
These constraints on the possible solutions to a problem in design arise in many
ways. Some constraints will be xed and invariable, such as those that arise from
physical laws, government regulations, and standards. O thers will be less rigid and
can be relaxed by the designer as part of the general strategy for seeking the best design.
The constraints that are outside the designers inuence can be termed the external
constraints. These set the outer boundary of possible designs, as shown in Figure 1.1.
Within this boundary there will be a number of plausible designs bounded by the other