Process flow diagrams 0 8

A process flow diagram (PFD) is a diagram commonly used by chemical engineers in the process design of petroleum refineries, natural gas
processing plants, petrochemical and chemical plants, and other industrial facilities to indicate the general flow of plant process streams and
equipment.
The PFD displays the relationship between the major equipment items of a plant facility. It does not include minor equipment items, piping
materials of construction and piping sizes. Another commonly-used term for a PFD is a process flowsheet.
Typical content of a process flow diagram
Process flow diagrams of a single process unit will typically include the following:
Process piping
Major bypass and recirculation lines
Major equipment symbols, names and identification (either by name, number or both)
Flow directions (indicated by arrows on the process streams)
Pressures and temperatures, as well as other control valves and systems that monitor and
control the operation of the process (shown schematically, rather than in complete detail)
Interconnecting lines with other systems (if any)
Pressures, temperatures, flow rates and other pertinent operational values for each of the
equipment items such as pumps, gas compressors, distillation columns and other vessels
In some cases, the process flow diagram includes a material balance that lists the normal
temperature, pressure, amount and composition of all the major process streams. Also
included, in some cases, are the amount of heat provided by any process furnaces and the
amount of heat exchanged by any process heat exchangers.
The adjacent drawing depicts some of the typical symbols used in a process flow diagram to
indicate the major equipment items.
Process flow diagrams generally do not include:
Pipe classes or piping line numbers
Pipe sizes
Process control instrumentation (sensors and final elements) in detail
Minor bypass lines
Isolation and shutoff valves
Maintenance vents and drains
Relief and safety valves
Flanges (if any)
The adjacent image provides some examples of the typical symbols used in PFDs to represent various major equipment items, piping and valves.
It is by no means completely inclusive, but it is representative of the great many such symbols commonly used in drawing PFDs.
Process flow diagrams of multiple process units within a large industrial plant will usually contain less detail and may be called ''block flow
diagrams'' or ''schematic flow diagrams''.
Process flow diagram examples
Single process unit
The process flow diagram below depicts a single chemical engineering unit process known as a catalytic reforming unit which is widely used in
most, if not all, petroleum refineries. It does not include all of the above listed process flow diagram components to avoid disclosure of proprietary
information and, although not usually done in practice, some color has been added.
Multiple process units within an industrial plant
[1] [2] [3]
[4]
[5]
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Multiple process units within an industrial plant
The process flow diagram below is an example of a schematic or block flow diagram and depicts the various unit processes within a typical oil
refinery:
Simple block flow diagrams
Below are two examples of very simple process block flow diagrams. One is a diagram of the processes used to produce ammonia and the other
is a diagram of a process for producing petroleum asphalt:
Other items of interest
A PFD can be computer generated from chemical process simulators, computer-aided design (CAD) packages, or flow chart software using a
library of chemical engineering symbols. Rules and symbols are also available from standardization organizations such as:
ISO DIS 10628-2: Diagrams for the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry - Part 2: Graphical Symbols
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Many large industrial companies in the process industries, and the engineering companies that serve them, have their own extensive proprietary
sets of PFD symbols.
PFDs of many commercial processes can be found in the literature, although some might be outdated. To find recent ones, patent databases
such as those available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office can be useful.
References
1. ^ Martyn S. Ray and Martin G. Sneesby (1998), Chemical Engineering Design Project: A Case Study Approach, 2nd Edition, Gordan and
Breach Science Publishers, ISBN 90-5699-136-1.
2. ^ Richard Turton, Richard C. Bailie, Wallace B. Whiting and Joseph A. Shaeiwitz (2002), Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of Chemical
Processes, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-064792-6.
3. ^ James R. Couper, W. Roy Penny, James R. Fair and Stan Walas (2005), Chemical Process Equipment: Selection and Design, 2nd
Edition, Gulf Professional Publishing, ISBN 0-7506-7510-1.
4. ^ Charles E. Thomas (2007), Process Technology Equipment and Systems, 2nd Edition, Delmar Cengage Learning, ISBN 1-4180-3067-8.
Chapter 12 includes comprehensive, detailed displays of all the typical symbols for the process flow diagrams used in the petroleum,
natural gas, chemical and petrochemical industries. A copy of Chapter 12 is available here online.
5. ^ Same as Reference 4.
6. ^ IHS Standards Store
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