role of the process engineer

Although the working role of the process design engineer may include all of the technical requirements listed above, it is very important to recognize what this entails in some detail. The process design engineer, in addition to being capable of participating in evaluation of research and pilot plant data and the conversion of this data into a proposed commercial process scheme, must also:

1. Prepare heat and material balance studies for a proposed process, both “by hand” and by use of

computer programs.

2. Prepare rough cost economics, including preliminary sizing anid important details of equipment, factor to an ordler of magnitude capital cost estimate [ 341 (see also [ 191 ) , prepare a production cost estimate, and work with economic evaluation representatives to establish a payout and the financial

economics of the proposed process.

3. Participate in layout planning for the proposed plant (see [46] [47]).

4. Prepare final detailed heat and material balances. repare detailed sizing of all process equipment

and possibly some utility systems. It is important that the process engineer visualize the Row and processing of the fluids through the system and inside the various items of equipment in order to adequately recognize what will take place during the process.

6. Prepare/supervise preparation of draft of process flowsheets for review by others.

7. Prepare/supervise preparation of piping or mechanical flow diagram (or P and ID), with  necessary preliminary sizing of all pipe lines, distillation equipment, pumps, compressors, etc., and representation of all instrumentation for detailing by instrument engineers.

8. Prepare mechanical and process specifications for all equipment, tanks, pumps, compressors, separators, drying systems, refrigeration systems. This must include the selection of materials of construction and safety systems and the coordination of  specifications with instrumentation and electrical requirements.

9. Determine size and specifications for all safety relief valves and/or rupture disks for process safety

relief (including run-a-way reactions) and relief in case of external fire.

10. Prepare valve code specifications for incorporation on item 6 above, or select from existing company standards for the fluids and their operating conditions (see Figures 1-25 and 1-26).

11. Select from company insulation standards (or prepare, if necessary) the insula~onco des to be applied to each hot or cold pipe or equipment. Note that insulation must be applied in some cases only to prevent operating personnel from contacting the base  equipment. See Table 1-1 for typical insulation thickness from which code numbers can be established.

12. Establish field construction hydraulic test pressures for each process equipment. Sometimes the equipment is blanked or blocked off, and no test pressure is applied in the field, because all pressure

equipment must be tested in the fabricators’ or manufacturers’ shop per ASME Code.

13. Prepare drafts of line schedule and/or summary sheets (Figures 1-24 A-D) , and equipment summary schedules (Figures 1-27, 1-28, 1-29, 1-30), plus summary schedules for safety relief valves and rupture disks, compressors and other major equipment.

14. Prepare detailed process and mechanical specifications for developing proposals for purchase by the purchasing department. The process design engineer actually interprets the process into appropriate hardware (equipment) to accomplish the process requirements. Therefore, the engineer must be interested in and conversant with the layout of the plant; the relationship of equipment for maintenance; the safety relationships of equipment in the plant; the possibilities for fire and/or explosion; the possibilities for external fire on the equipment areas of the plant; the existence of  hazardous conditions, including toxic materials and pollution, that could arise; and, in general, the overall picture