Project Constraints

The following figure was taken from the book of Towler and Sinnott (2008). This shows

examples of different constraints, both external and internal, that are faced by chemical

engineers in the design and implementation of chemical engineering projects. The team, to

achieve our listed goals, had also considered several of these constraint that could change or

impede the over-all time schedule of the completion of the project. For the process that we have

selected, we considered the applicable constraints that we may face.

Design Constraints (Towler and Sinnott, 2008)

Safety Regulations

The aspects that we have considered here are the health and safety of the employees

as well as the community that maybe around the area. For example, in the design of the plant,

both its location and plant lay-out were ensured that if there are explosions and fire hazards, the

plant area is of safe distance from the buildings and offices. Firefighting equipment were also
placed adjacent to the plant area. Chemical sheds for storage and disposal for safe-keeping

were also considered.

The over-all design was made to ensure that the environmental, health, and safety

standards governed by authorities such as OSHA, DOLE, EPA and the government are all

followed strictly. Adherence to safety practices in the working area will be strictly enforced in the

form of seminars, trainings, toolbox meetings, safety audits, proper equipment maintenance and

PPE checks. Overall, these aspects were put above efficiency and economics in our MEK plant

design.

Economic Constraints

A major restraint in this project is a favorable economical outcome from designing and

putting up the plant up to the time when the plant will be fully operational. Careful studies of the

process implication on capital investment and profit must be, first of all, carried out from already

existing MEK plant or can be calculated from the start (material balances and selecting

equipment specifications). Calculating for the total capital investment and the net profit of the

process is to be accomplished under the Economics section of this paper.

Process Choice

One of the major restraint in our project is whether or not the chosen process is practical

above all other processes considering and comparing several aspects in mind. Decision

regarding the choice of process was based on four major factors that we considered to be highly

important. These factors (in increasing importance) are the byproducts formed alongside the

main product, resources used, efficiency of the process and cost.

Fewer byproducts formed by the process can mean lower waste management costs for

these byproducts. For the resources used in the process, the fewer resources, combined with
lower selling price, can greatly benefit the company. In terms of efficiency, the quantifiable

aspects the team considered are percent yield and product purity. Higher yield and purity are, of

course, more favorable and significant in selecting the preferred process. For the decision

making process, these factors were carefully researched for each alternative in order for the

selected process to be highly economical and profitable.

Government Controls

The plants operation and procedure will be in accordance to laws and regulations

instituted by the government. Compliance to existing Republic Acts such as solid waste

management, clean air, and clean water acts is to be achieve and necessary revisions or

additions to the plant is to be made to be in accordance with the law. Of course, the safety

measures and accident preventive measures will be established and taken into account

considerably.

Process Conditions

For the selected process, some reactions and separations are carried out in higher

temperature and pressure. Thus, instrumentation and control (I&C) plays a vital role in

monitoring the whole system for any minor and major fluctuations to prevent any accident from

happening. Semi-automatic system should also be installed for the automatic closure of a part

or the whole system, if needed, in any event of failure. However, I&C design is not included in

this paper.

Emission Control

According to EPAs report entitled Locating and Estimating Air Emissions from Sources

of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (1994), process emissions from secondary-butyl alcohol

dehydrogenation are non-condensable VOC (including MEK) and hydrogen from the reactor
vents and distillation column condenser. Fugitive emissions can occur at the scrubber and from

equipment leaks. These process and fugitive emissions can be collected and either burned as

fuel or used elsewhere in the plant complex. The emissions may be continuous or periodic,

depending on the method used to purge non-condensables from the condensers. Storage and

loading emissions can also occur. At present, no emission factors are available for MEK

production processes. Also, little information on emissions controls used in MEK production is

available. One type of control used is incineration, which can potentially reduce MEK emissions

by 99 percent.

In this projects case, hydrogen is to be used as a fuel to augment the electrical

resources. Floating head type of storage tanks is intended to be used since this is

recommended to reduce the emissions from the tanks. Equipment seals should also be present

to minimize the emissions and frequent maintenance and replacement should be done

accordingly.