Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 1 of 11

COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:

LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

Methanol Plant

BACKGROUND

SASOL is interested in the design and installation of a methanol plant to upgrade an existing
carbon dioxide stream into methanol by hydrogenation. Process Design Ltd is an engineering
consultancy working with SASOL. They are keen to examine the engineering design and cost
implications of developing the new plant. The feed to the process consists of a stream comprised
of carbon dioxide (75 wt. %) and hydrogen sulphide (25 wt. %) at 10 bar. Hydrogen sulphide
should be separated from carbon dioxide before conversion to methanol.

YOUR TASK

A plant processing a total of roughly 100 000 tonnes (metric tonnes) per year of methanol with
a grade of N4.0 is to be designed. The plan is to operate continuously for 350 days per year with
15 days of planned and unplanned downtime. The economics of your proposal is to be
determined. The proposed new plant can only be considered on the basis of a full cost-benefit
analysis. From an engineering point of view, that means that the full installation must be
specified. Tie-in points will be provided to SASOLs facilities, streams and utilities are provided
“over the fence”.

You are employed by the consulting company Process Design Ltd, and have been given the task
of carrying out the front-end-loading and process design for the work-up section. Several other
groups of engineers in your offices have been given similar tasks, but you are to work completely
independently, in order to come up with as diverse schemes for the client.

(1) You are expected to research the possibilities for this process thoroughly, including an
inspection of relevant books and journals in the library, and searches of the Science Direct
platform, Wiley Online Library, Springer Link, Taylor & Francis Online, etc. These can
be accessed remotely over the LAN. You will find these databases and full -text electronic
journals under “Electronic Resources” at https://library.ukzn.ac.za/.
(2) On completion of your process design, you will proceed with the engineering design,
involving the location of equipment, process control, a safety study and specification of
materials.
(3) Finally, you will do a preliminary estimate of the necessary capital expenditure, and the
return on the investment. In preparing this preliminary design, you should assume that all
steam made can be used elsewhere in the plant with the appropriate economic credit, that
condensed steam can be returned as boiler feed water for the appropriate credit and that fuel
gas can be burned for credit at its lower heating value.
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 2 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

UTILITIES & SERVICES AVAILABLE

Steam levels available: HP: 50 barg, MP: 16-18 barg, LP: 3-5 barg
Steam cost: R650 / t, R510/ t, R430 / t
Cooling Water Supply: 25 °C
Cooling Water cost: R7 / t
Process water is available at 30 °C and 8 bar, costs should be estimated from the literature.
ESKOM power is available at the industrial site at 380 V 3 phase 50 Hz.
Electricity cost R0.8 (kWh)-1
WACC 7% pa (Weighted Average Cost of Capital)
Required turndown Plant should be economically operable at 80%
Refrigerant cooling is available on site and should be costed according to the literature.

GENERAL SCOPE OF YOUR DESIGN

1. Process Design:
 Flowsheet arrangement
 Kinetics & equilibria
 Mass and energy balances
 Process integration/optimisation
 Sizing of all equipment (separation systems, reactors, heat exchangers, pumps & piping,
control valves etc.)
 Sensitivity to operating conditions (turndown)

2. Operation:
 Instrumentation
 Control
 Ergonomics
 Supply and dispatch of materials
 Shutdown/startup

3. Engineering Design:
 Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993
 Standards (e.g. ASME etc.)
 Plant Layout (All process equipment, pipework)
 Drawings (flowsheet, P & ID, plan, elevation, illustrative sketches, detailed
engineering drawings for construction of processing items)
 Specification Sheets (process units)
 Materials of construction
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 3 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

4. Health, Safety and Environmental Impact:

 Legal requirements for solids, liquids and gases emanating from the process
 Hazard and Operability analysis
 Waste Minimisation

5. Project Management:
 Precedence network and critical path
 Project manpower (team)
 Modification control and cost control

6. Expenditure Proposal:
 Market analysis
 Capital expenditure
 Purchased equipment cost
 Direct/indirect costs
 VAT
 Contingency
 Inflation/escalation of costs
 Operating cost estimation (fixed/variable)
 DCF return on investment
 Sensitivity / risk assessment
 Financial summary sheet

LIAISON

Prof Lokhat and Dr Nelson will be available to monitor your progress and discuss options and
problems. Since a diversity of views is required, you are to keep any collaboration with other
teams to an absolute minimum, in order to avoid penalties. Where this is essential, you must
acknowledge specific sources in your reports, just as you must acknowledge the origin of facts
drawn from the literature, or from elsewhere in your own report. The extent of external
contributions must be made absolutely clear. Blanket statements in your acknowledgements
like “I would like to thank Mr _______ for his help with the reactor modelling” are not
acceptable.

COMPUTER MODELLING

You are expected to provide a flowsheet solution for your proposed design using the
flowsheeting package Aspen Plus. This will be an important aid in resolving heat and mass
interchanges. Only a very basic representation of the process will be possible in the time
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 4 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

available. Remember that this is simply a calculational representation of the process, and you
should only use the various Aspen Plus devices to simulate the simplest possible calculation
sequence which will account for the major mass and heat balance issues.

Once you have your basic steady-state flowsheet operating, you should attempt to utilize as
many of the advanced features of Aspen Plus as possible. Most of the tasks performed by theses
advanced features were previously the subject of hand-calculations, in which the engineer was
forced to demonstrate his or her know-how. Now it is possible to produce a plausible-looking
design almost in entirety, without having to assess any of the detail. This is a very dangerous
situation in practice (and of course in the present assessment). On the one hand we wish to
know about and utilize the sophisticated features, but on the other hand we wish to know that
human judgment has been involved at every step. Thus the designs will not be assessed on the
basis of the amount of paper automatically generated, but rather on the personal detailed
analysis and justification of the results by the engineer.

REPORTS

You are required to submit three reports during the semester:

1st Technical Memorandum

2nd Technical Memorandum
Final Design Report

These technical memoranda would normally be used in industry to justify the commitment of
manpower to the next design phase. In the present context, it is an important means for you to
obtain some feedback about your intentions before you invest further effort.

You are expected to employ all means possible to make your reports readable, and easily
digestible. A number of references on report-writing are available, but the main ideas are:

(1) structure: information must be where it is expected

(2) conciseness: clear, factual and brief
(3) lists, tables & diagrams: to illustrate wherever possible
(4) appendix: for more detailed work but you must refer to it

1st Technical Memorandum: This memorandum must give reasons for the plant configuration
you have chosen and report the results of flowsheet (mass & energy balance) calculations. This
is a group submission. The text will occupy only the first 5 PAGES. The remainder of your
Technical Memorandum (i.e. Appendix) will occupy at most 10 MORE PAGES.

2nd Technical Memorandum: This memorandum presents the results of the equipment sizing
calculations for the key units of the plant. This is a single document consisting of four
individual and named contributions. The team leader allocates the tasks to the members. The
text of each contribution will occupy only 12 PAGES including appendices.
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 5 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

Final Design Report: All pages (including drawing pages) to be numbered from the
Introduction onwards, to a MAXIMUM OF 140 PAGES. Of these, the Discussion must occupy
a MAXIMUM OF 40 PAGES.

Thus you will need to be selective about what you present. Do not present your full Aspen
stream data printout. Rather, present only the flowsheet, together with a stream data block on
the same page, or annotate the actual stream lines with individual data blocks. Any Aspen
printouts have to be accompanied by analysis/discussion by yourself otherwise they will be
ignored. In DISCUSSION you have to prove your familiarity and understanding of all aspects
of your design, demonstrating your decision sequence and judgment. Further details regarding
the three assessments are provided below.

1st Technical Memorandum deliverables

- Process flow diagram

- Process description + justifications for process configuration
- Stream Table (presentation of mass and energy balances)
- Sample calculations (in appendix)
- References

Mass balances should be completed by hand, using appropriate information from the literature
and valid assumptions. You should carry out short-cut calculations or used graphical methods
for process units, if possible. Energy balances (in terms of enthalpy flows) can be obtained
from ASPEN using stream analysis.

The group leader for each group is required to upload the following onto the moodle platform
by the submission deadline (details on this procedure to following during the semester):
- An electronic copy of TM1

2nd Technical Memorandum deliverables

Group contribution (not counted towards the page count)

• Integrated flowsheet in the form of a process flow diagram

• Stream table

Individual contribution [maximum 12 pages total: e.g. 5 pages body & 7 pages appendices]

• Process design & optimization methodology

• Equipment sizing & mechanical design
• Equipment drawing
• Process data sheets (specification sheets)
• Sample calculations AND/OR solution strategy
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 6 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

You can present your drawings and specification sheets for the individual contribution on an
A3 sized page, which will each count one page to your individual total. There will be some
information that you will expand on from TM1 in TM2, particularly the process conditions and
other design choices for your unit that inform your process design and optimization
methodology. Note that a separate process description is not required, since the information
will be absorbed by your discussion for your individual units.

We will be assessing primarily on the individual contribution, but would like to see your
integrated flowsheet and stream table and may use this to adjust your individual mark. We are
encouraging you to have a fully integrated flowsheet so that you can progress with the other
(many) remaining aspects of your design.

In selecting major units please note the following: Each individual should be designing a
reactor or a major separation unit. Extractive and solvent recovery columns for instance can be
designed by different individuals, constraining flows and purities. If you have any queries
regarding the selection of units, please email the course lecturers. Of course there may be other
units that need to be designed (e.g. flash vessels) but this does not fall under the 2nd Technical
Memorandum assessment, they can be completed as a group for the Final Report. In the
simplest terms, each individual needs to design ONE major unit.

For the 2nd Technical Memorandum, only the complete mechanical design of the main vessel
or column is necessary (e.g. reactor or distillation column). Concerning the mechanical design
of auxiliary units (pumps, heat exchangers, reflux drums, etc.), these items are NOT necessary
for the 2nd Technical Memorandum, although simple sizing may be required for evaluation of
TAC. The full mechanical design and/or specification of these smaller units will be discussed
in the Final Report after heat integration etc.

For the 2nd Technical Memorandum consideration of turndown is not required.

For your process design and optimization please consider the following: Choice and validation
of any experimental data, design choices, optimization methods, sizing calculations, utility
requirements, sensitivity data.

For your mechanical design please consider the following: Drawing, spec sheet, materials,
vessel internals, design codes, health and safety, maintenance.

And as always, please make sure your presentation is neat and adheres to a logical flow of
information.

The group leader for each group is required to upload the following onto the moodle platform
by the submission deadline (details on this procedure to following during the semester):
- An electronic copy of TM2
- The four individual ASPEN simulations that the group members have used to carry out
rigorous design and optimization, as backup files (.bkp).
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 7 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

Final Report deliverables

After completing the design of the major units for the 2nd Technical Memorandum, the
following tasks (amongst others) will need to be completed for inclusion in the Final Report:

- Additional unit designs and costing (those not assessed as part of the individual component).
For TM2 you submitted rigorous designs and costing for four major units in your flowsheet.
These individual submissions will also be made as part of the final report (and will constitute
one part of your individual component). There may be some additional units left on your
flowsheet. These have to be rigorously designed and costed just like your individual units,
except that the entire group will work on them.

- Heat integration (pinch analysis etc., which will determine the number of process and utility
exchangers you have).

- Plant layout and ergonomics

- Design and selection of auxiliary equipment. Since there are four students in a group, we have
split the auxiliary equipment into four classes: Control valves, piping, pressure changers
(including pumps, compressors and turbines) and heat exchangers. Each group member will
work on one of these classes and will design and select all of that class for the plant. The rigor
required for the design of these auxiliary equipment will be lower than that for the major units,
i.e. shortcut methods can be used, as long as they provide sufficient information to make an
informed cost analysis. The details for these equipment will be provided in the form of
schedules (lists) in the final report, e.g. a schedule of all the heat exchangers for the plant. In
order to properly select these equipment you will need to carry out the following:
- Hydraulic calculations for pipelines
- Sizing of control valves
- Selection and sizing of pumps
- Selection and sizing of heat exchangers

The following deliverables apply:

Individual component
1. Unit design (e.g. reactor, distillation units etc.)
2. Unit costing (equipment cost, operating cost estimation, TAC)
3. Auxiliary units/equipment (control valves, pumps, piping, heat exchangers)

Notes:
For the unit design, the same deliverables as TM2 applies:
• Process design & optimization methodology
• Equipment sizing & mechanical design
• Equipment drawing
• Process data sheets (specification sheets)
• Sample calculations AND/OR solution strategy
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 8 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

For auxiliary units/equipment, each student should do one grouping, i.e. either all control
valves, all pumps, all piping or all heat exchangers. Design information should be provided in
tables as a schedule. No mechanical drawings are required for these auxiliary units/equipment.

Group component
1. Process description
2. Stream table
3. Unit design (additional major units not part of the individual component, e.g. other
distillation columns, reactors or flash vessels. Full deliverables as stated under
individual unit design)
4. Control and instrumentation
5. Heat integration
6. Overall economic analysis (market analysis, DCF, NPV, IRR, sensitivity of IRR,
financial summary sheet, etc.)
7. Project management
8. Safety, health and environment
9. Plant layout and ergonomics
10. Start-up and shutdown
11. Plant operability (turndown analysis)
12. PFD
13. PID
14. Plant layout (plan and elevation)

Notes
No isometric sketch of the plant is required
In the project management section, include a task list, critical path analysis (table and network),
Gantt chart showing critical path.

Separate documents
1. HAZOP report on specified sections of plant (separate bound document).
2. Group meeting minutes (choice of separate bound document or as an appendix to the
final report)
3. One page portfolio from each student specifying where he/she has met the requirements
for ECSA graduate attributes 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11.
4. Student peer evaluation form.

The following is a breakdown of what needs to be handed in before the deadline for the Final
Report:

- Electronic copy of the final report

- Electronic copy of the HAZOP report
- Electronic copy of the group minutes (this could also be part of the final report,
included as an appendix and will not count towards the final page count for the final report).

Notes: Don’t forget your declaration page and an indication of the INDIVIDUAL unit designs
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 9 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

and AUXILIARIES by the various members of the group so that you can be assessed on the
correct individual components. Please do not say that you worked on e.g. project management
alone since everyone else in your group will then not meet GA 11, similarly with other group
components. We reiterate, only indicate what INDIVIDUAL components you worked on. On
the title page don’t forget your GROUP NUMBER.

As specified, each design group will undertake their HAZOP study on an allocated part of the
process. The HAZOP report is a separately bound document (with reference to the main report
and vice versa if necessary). Please specify your group number, student names and student
numbers and name of the HAZOP team leader on your cover page. Please include MSDS of
the main reactants and products, the original flowsheet with basic controls before HAZOP on
that section of the plant, HAZOP, and the full PID after HAZOP for that section of the plant.

Electronic submission (to be uploaded onto the moodle platform).

- COMPLETE copy of the final report (There is freeware available that can be used to
assemble pdfs if your document is in fragments. Please DO NOT send sections of your report
as separate files).
- COMPLETE copy of your HAZOP report.
- ASPEN simulation files. Files for individual units with flows hopefully corresponding
to the stream table presented in the report.
Notes: It is the responsibility of the group leader to upload these items.
- Completed peer evaluation form
- One portfolio from each student specifying where he/she has met the requirements for
ECSA graduate attributes 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11. This can be also bound with the
final report if you wish, just after the declaration pages and will not count towards
your page count.

MANAGEMENT OF GROUP WORK COMPONENT OF THE DESIGN

As part of your preparation for working on real design projects, this design will be undertaken
in groups. These groups will be allocated by the course coordinator, and no requests for changes
to group composition will be entertained.

Although individual design marks will be calculated for each student, the performance of each
individual in the group will affect the overall performance of the group. It is necessary for the
group to work as a team to ensure that all tasks are completed timeously and to a standard that
is acceptable to all members of the group. To achieve this, the groups must be properly
managed. The following rules will govern the management of the groups:

 Groups will consist of 3 or 4 students

 Groups will elect a team leader.
 Groups will meet electronically or otherwise at least once per week, remember to follow
the relevant policies regarding co-vid regulations.
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 10 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

 Minutes will be taken at every group meeting. The minutes will follow a standard
format and may be handwritten or typed, but the group’s minute book must be updated
within 1 day of the meeting. The minutes will include a register of attendance.
 The minute book will be handed in as an annexure to the final design report. Evidence
of excellent project management may be rewarded with bonus points for the entire
group.
 Each member of the group will undertake a peer evaluation survey after submission of
the 1st Technical Memorandum, and after the submission of the final report.
 Any student who breaks away from a group and attempts to complete their design on
their own will be deemed to have failed a GA for this module and will fail the module
on subminimum. Similarly, any student who receives an average rating from their group
of less than 50% will be deemed to have failed a GA for this module and will fail the
module on subminimum.

MARK DISTRIBUTION

Technical Memorandum 1 (group mark) 7.5%

Technical Memorandum 2 (group submission of individual contributions: individual

mark) 12.5%

Final report (group mark) 30%

Individual contribution to final report (individual mark) 50%

The final report mark (out of 80) is subject to adjustment according to the quality of the group
component, quality of the executive summary, outcome of the peer evaluation as well as the
report aesthetics.

There are only three submissions during the course of the module (tech memo 1, tech memo 2
and the final report). All three items are group submissions. However, in the Tech memo 2 and
the final report, individuals within the group will take responsibility for subsections of the
submissions and individual marks will be awarded for these sections. However, in the case of
the final report, although individuals will be responsible for each of the subsections of the
report, it is the responsibility of the whole group to ensure that the technical content of each
section is acceptable. Thus there will be both a group mark for the final report, and an individual
mark for sub-sections.

TURNITIN

Reports will be submitted to Turnitin. Reports with high similarity will not be accepted.
Reports presenting content from previous years will not be accepted.
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 11 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

SCHEDULE
Week Date Topic
1 Mon, 25 – Fri, 29 July Groups, Design Statement and Module Outline released
2 Mon, 01 Aug – Fri, 05 Aug Design content
3 Mon, 08 – Fri, 12 Aug Design content
4 Mon, 15 – Fri, 19 Aug 1st Tech Memo: 7.5% #
5 Mon, 22 – Fri, 26 Aug Design content
6 Mon, 29 Aug – Fri, 02 Sep Design content
7 Mon, 05 – Fri, 09 Sep Design content
8 Mon, 12 – Fri, 16 Sep 2nd Tech Memo: 12.5% #
9 Mon, 19 – Fri, 23 Sep Design content
Sat, 24 – Sun, 02 Oct STUDENT MID-TERM BREAK
Mon, 26 – Fri, 30 Sep STUDENT MID-TERM BREAK
10 Mon, 03 Oct – Fri, 07 Oct Design content
11 Mon, 10 – Fri, 14 Oct Design content
12 Mon, 17 – Fri, 21 Oct Final Report: 80% #
13 Mon, 24 – Fri, 28 Oct
14 Mon, 31 Oct – Fri, 04 Nov
Mon, 07 – Fri, 11 Nov Resubmissions
Mon, 14 – Sat, 19 Nov
Mon, 21 – Fri, 25 Nov
Mon, 28 – Fri, 02 Dec
Mon, 05 – Fri, 09 Dec Second semester ends for all student
Mon, 12 – Fri, 16 Dec 13 DEC - All marks to be captured on SMS by 12h00

# NOTES: (1) Late submissions will receive a zero mark.

(2) No requests to change deadlines will be entertained.
(3) Be warned that the production of your Design Report is a considerable
publication exercise, requiring about two weeks to write/type up (after
completion of your calculations) and combine all individual sections.
 Discipline of Chemical Engineering Page 12 of 11
COURSE: ENCH4DP H2 Design Project DATE:
LECTURERS: Prof D Lokhat and Dr WM Nelson July 2022
TOPIC: DESIGN PROJECT: PROBLEM STATEMENT

REFERENCES:

1. R.H. Perry, D. Green, Chemical Engineer's Handbook. (any edition) McGraw-Hill

2. J.M. Coulson, J.F. Richardson, Chemical Engineering, Volume 6-Design. Pergamon Press
1983 (and later)
3. J.C Kirk, D.M. Othmer, Encyclopedia of Scientific Technology. 17, 738-746, John Wiley
& Sons.
4. M.S. Pieters, K.D. Timmerhaus, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers.
McGraw-Hill 1991 (and later)
5. J.M. Douglas, Conceptual Design of Chemical Processes. McGraw-Hill 1988