Chemical Process Design Wiki

Welcome to the Northwestern University Chemical Engineering Process Design Open Textbook. This electronic textbook is a student-contributed open-source text covering the materials used in our chemical engineering capstone design courses at Northwestern.

If you would like to suggest changes to these pages, please email you[at]northwestern.edu .

Northwestern University Chemical Engineering Process Design Open Text Book

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Chemical Process Design Theory and Method

Design Basis

1. Define product and feed
2. Preliminary market analysis and plant capacity
3. Define site condition
4. Block flow diagram

Process Flow Diagram

1. Literature review
2. Process alternatives and technology options
3. Define the major unit operations
4. Process flow diagram

Process Modeling and Simulation

1. Reactors
2. Separation processes
3. Heat Exchangers
4. Storage vessels
5. Other vessels
6. Plant hydraulics
7. Utility systems
8. HYSYS
9. Aspen Plus

Process Economic Analysis

1. Estimation of capital
2. Estimation of production cost
3. Estimation of revenue
4. Profitability measures

Other Process Design Considerations

1. Safety analysis
2. Environmental concerns
3. Controls and P&ID
4. Sensitivity analysis
5. Process optimization

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Chemical Process Design Projects

Examples

• Sugar Cane Ethanol Plant (2011)
• Other examples

Glycerol to propylene glycol

• Design 1
• Design 2
• Design 3

3-Hydroxypropionic acid to 1,3-propanediol

• Design 1
• Design 2
• Design 3

Succinic acid to 1,4-butanediol

• Design 1
• Design 2
• Design 3

Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.

Guide to Use Wiki

• Configuration settings list
• MediaWiki FAQ