Handbook

A core value and capability of chemical engineers is the ability to design, operate and manage complex systems like process plants. This requires the chemical engineer to combine multiple sources of information on the function of individual equipment and use it to create value by designing an entire plant. A systems thinking approach also extends to understanding and evaluating process economics and implications on the environment and society. Thus, this course will give you a holistic understanding of process plant design methodology used by chemical engineers, to enable individual unit operations to work in tandem satisfying the functional, safety, and economic objectives of the plant.

You will become familiar with the steps associated with planning and evaluating a new process plant, as well as collecting and documenting the information needed to make engineering decisions about designs. This course focuses on four broad areas in the design of process plants:

1. Design Documentation (DD) – prioritising design constraints and objectives, identifying relevant design guidelines and environmental standards, drawing block flow diagrams (BFD), process flow diagrams (PFD), piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) and general arrangement (GA) of equipment in line with industry conventions.
2. Process Simulation (PS) – designing, simulating and optimising chemical unit operations using commercial simulation software.
3. Process Risk and Safety (PRS) – identifying, evaluating and managing hazard and safety issues in a chemical plant or process and using control system design and risk analysis tools such as HAZOP, HAZAN and HACCP.
4. Process Economics (PE) – estimating revenue and costs, performing cash flow analysis and using various economic indicators to evaluate engineering projects.

You will integrate and apply your knowledge of these areas via a collaborative portfolio focused on the preliminary design stages of a project.