New Course Update - How Equipment Sizing Works in a Project

Hi

In a previous article, I have talked about the importance of process simulation and how a process engineer needs to optimize it. This is because this is the source of the process data that are needed to carry out the sizing of different equipment and piping.

How Improper Equipment Sizing can Affect the whole Process

However, we need to talk more about equipment sizing activities. A process engineer is responsible for the sizing of different equipment such as towers, exchangers, separators, and pressure safety valves. Let's consider these scenarios:

1. A tower tray design that was sized only based on normal operation. It didn't take into account the turndown operation. This resulted in weeping on trays, disturbed tower operation, and finally led to an off-spec product.
2. A heat exchanger was supposed to heat a liquid to a temperature of 120 C in order to vaporize light ends and separate them in the downstream separator. Unfortunately, the exchanger wasn't sized well. This yielded to an outlet temperature of 110 C, which means that the outlet liquid contained light ends, leading to an off-spec product.
3. A separator was sized based on a vapor flow of 50 MMSCFD. The real case was that the separator was supposed to accommodate 80 MMSCFD. Due to the small vessel diameter and high gas velocity in the vessel, separation was poor. This led to a huge liquid carryover in the outlet vapor that caused severe issues to the downstream compressor.
4. A pressure safety valve that was sized to handle control valve failure scenario. However, it didn't consider the liquid fire case. This yielded a small PSV orifice area that can't relieve excess pressure in the vessel leaving the vessel unprotected.

These examples demonstrate the importance of a process engineer properly carrying out different equipment sizing activities. He should understand how to optimize sizing from a simulation point of view by providing the optimized flow rates, pressure, and temperature, and operating scenarios. In addition, he should be aware of the different design aspects of the sizing of each equipment and how he can control them to provide the optimized sizing based on the given process data.

Let's Go a Step Further

To help you master these critical skills, I'm excited to announce several new lectures added to my "Process Engineering Masterclass" course, focusing on the essential aspects of equipment sizing.

In these new lectures, you'll gain practical skills and knowledge that will help you tackle real-world challenges in your projects. Using software like Aspen HYSYS and HTRI, we shall:

• Walk through examples of sizing various pieces of equipment, including tower, vessel, exchanger, and PSV sizing.
• Go through these activities and how they are carried out, analyze the results, and further optimize them to cope with our process.
• See how the output of these sizing calculations is reflected in documents such as datasheets and sketches.

If you'd like to check out how these lectures look like, you can check out the course the free video previews, for example this lecture and this lecture.

Why take this course?

This was a testimony from a student on my P&ID course currently best seller on Udemy (already included in the Process Engineering Masterclass at a much lower price along with other courses):

This is a great course full of practical content and wisdom. This course has the benefit of providing the student with the experience of a seasoned professional that would take years to accumulate on one's own. (Nicholas B.)

There are several reasons to take the course:

1. Focus on practical applications and engineering career: This course is designed for anyone who wants to start or enhance his career as a process engineer. That's why I am focusing in my courses on the practical application of process engineering principles in the real-life career.
2. Access all current process engineering courses at a reduced price: This includes the P&ID course, pump, pipe, control valve sizing, and compressor operations.
3. Continuous updates and future content: I am still working on adding additional content related to the course. In addition, accessing the course today shall give access to courses related to PSV sizing, separator sizing, exchanger thermal design, and tower design at no additional cost, taking into consideration that the price of the course shall be much higher went these courses are ready.

Course On Sale!

As highlighted before, with the new update, the course price is raised, and it is expected to rise after the completion of each update stage (each stage is expected to take one month).

However, within the next 4 days, you can still access the course with an eligible discount. You can claim your discount by clicking the below button:

Claim Discount!

Finally, if you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm here to support you in your journey to becoming a top-notch process engineer.

Regards

Mohamad