Basic Terms

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Istilah-istilah teknik ini saya sadur dari buku A Working Guide to Process Equipment karya
Pak Lieberman.

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persoalan yang dibahas di dalam blog ini untuk selanjutnya.

Basic Terms and Conditions

Work I was told in school that work is force times distance. I still have no idea what this means.
To me, work is carrying bricks up a hill. If I carry 50 lb of bricks up a 100-ft hill, I have done
5,000 ft-lb of work.

Power This is how fast I work. If I carry 50 lb of bricks up a 100-ft high hill in an hour, then my
power output is 5,000 ft-lb per hour. If I do the job in 30 min, my power output has doubled.

Amperage Amps are a form of electric work. Motor amps are controlled by what the motor is
driving, not the horsepower rating of the motor.

Kilowatts Watts are a form of electric power.

Latent Heat This is the number of BTUs needed to change 1 lb of liquid into 1 lb of vapor. For
water, this is about a 1000 BTU per pound; for diesel oil, about 100 BTU per pound.

Sensible Heat This is the heat associated with the temperature of the material. This does not
include latent heat.

Specific Heat This is the number of BTUs needed to heat 1 lb of liquid 1F; for water, 1.0 BTU,
for diesel oil, 0.5 BTU.

Enthalpy This is sensible heat plus latent heat.

Friction A fluid moving through a pipe loses pressure. The lost pressure is converted to heat by
friction inside the pipe. Friction converts work into heat. Converting heat back into work is much
more difficult.

Acceleration Energy It takes more energy to make a fluid move faster than to keep it moving at
a constant speed.

Momentum An important term momentum is mass times velocity. Alice weighs 100 lb and has
the same momentum as Alan, who weighs 200 lb. If Alice is running at 8 miles per hour, how
fast is Alan running? (Answer: 4 miles per hour).

Water Hammer If I hammer a nail into a brick wall, the nail gets very hot. This is an example of
converting the momentum of the hammer into sensible heat of the nail. When water flowing
through a pipe is suddenly stopped, the resulting bang is called water hammer. Its the
conversion of the momentum of the water into pressure.

Mole of Gas I have a box full of air. The air is at atmospheric pressure and 60F. The size of the
box is such that it contains 379 ft3. The box size was selected arbitrarily a long time ago. The
number of
molecules of air inside the box is called a mole (mol) of air. The number of molecules is about
10^23. A really big number.

Molecular Weight If I weigh the air in this box, it will weigh 29 lb. Therefore the molecular
weight of air is 29 lb/mol of air. If the box contained hydrogen, it would weigh 2 lb. Therefore
the molecular
weight of hydrogen is 2. If I displace the hydrogen with propane from an LPG cylinder, the box
weight would be 44 lb. The molecular weight of propane is 44 lb.

Gas Laws As I double the absolute pressure of a gas, its volume is cut in half. As I double the
absolute temperature of a gas, its volume doubles.

Compressibility Heavier gases are easier to compress than lighter gases. The compressibility
factor for hydrogen is 1.0. For propane or butane, its about 0.90.

Compression Ratio The compressor discharge pressure (in absolute pressure) divided by the
suction pressure (also in absolute pressure). If Im compressing air, the suction pressure is
atmospheric pressure, and the discharge pressure is 29.4 psig, what is the compression ratio?
(Answer: 3).

Heat of Compression Gases get hot when they are compressed. The hotter they get, the less
efficiently the compressor is working. Bigger compression ratios also increase the temperature of
the gas as it is compressed.

Expansion Cooling You would suspect that when we depressure gas it would cool, if the gas
gets hotter upon compression. Except for pure hydrogen, that is correct. Steam, air, and fuel gas
all cool when we let the pressure down across a control valve.

Head A tank with 23 ft of liquid has a head of 23 ft regardless of the liquid density.

Head Pressure A tank with 23 ft of water has a head pressure of 10 psi. A tank with 23 ft of
gasoline has a head pressure of 7 psi, because gasoline is less dense than water. Its specific
gravity is 0.70.

Specific Gravity Water has density of 62 lb/ft3. This density has been arbitrarily defined as a
specific gravity1.00 s.g. Since gasoline has a density that is 70 percent of water, its specific
gravity is 0.70 s.g.

Temperature Correction of Specific Gravity Hydrocarbon density drops by 5 percent for each
increase of 100F. For water its 1 percent for each 100F.

Viscosity Expressed in centipoises it is a fluid property measuring how much a fluid in a pipe
drags along the walls.

Centipoises or Centistokes Both terms have about the same value. A high viscosity fluid has
100 centipoises (cP) such as cold, heavy crude oil. A low viscosity fluid has 1 or 2 cP such as
water or kerosene. Going from 2 to 20 cP would about double the pressure drop in a pipeline.
Liquids over 100 cP or centistokes (cSt) are not easily pumped by a centrifugal pump. Increased
temperature reduces viscosity.

Thermal Conductivity This is the ability of a material to let heat pass. Metals, water, and
materials that are good conductors of electricity have a high thermal conductivity. Air, rubber,
and materials
that are bad conductors of electricity have a low thermal conductivity. High viscosity
hydrocarbons are bad conductors of heat.

Thermal Expansion Railroad tracks grow longer in the heat of the sun. The hot tubes in an
exchanger grow more than the cold shell. Hence, we have a floating head in the tube bundle to
accommodate differential rates of thermal expansion between the tube bundle and the shell.

Auto Ignition This is the temperature at which materials burn without a source of ignition.
Gasoline autoignites at 450F. Asphalt autoignites at 320F methane at 1000F. The heavier the
hydrocarbon,
the lower the autoignition temperature. Iron sulfide (pyrophorric iron) burns at room temperature
when it is dry.

Flash Temperature Hold a flame over a cup of diesel fuel; it will start to burn at its 160F flash
temperature. Gasolines flash temperature is below room temperature. Jet fuel is 110F. The
lighter
the hydrocarbon, the lower the flash temperature.

Vapor Pressure This is a key concept. As we heat a liquid, the molecules in the liquid try to
escape into the vapor phase. The hotter the liquid, the harder they try to escape. The pressure that
the
molecules of liquid create as they push out into the vapor space is the liquid vapor pressure.
More volatile liquids such as LPG, have a higher vapor pressure, than less volatile diesel oil.

Boiling Point Heat a liquid and its vapor pressure increases. When the liquids vapor pressure
equals the pressure in the vessel, the liquid starts to boil. The temperature at which this boiling
starts is the
liquids boiling temperature.

Relative Volatility Divide the vapor pressure of a lighter material by the vapor pressure of a
heavier material. The bigger the resulting number, the larger the relative volatility. Its easier to
separate two

components in a distillation tower if they have a larger relative volatility.

Dynamic Machine Centrifugal pumps and centrifugal compressors are dynamic machines. They
convert velocity imparted by the impeller to the fluid, into fluid pressure.

Positive Displacement Machine A reciprocating compressor or gear type pump is an example

of a positive displacement machine. It increases pressure by squeezing or pushing the fluid into a
region of greater pressure.

Cavitation When the pressure of liquid flowing into a centrifugal pump gets too low, liquid boils
inside the pump case and generates bubbles. The discharge pressure and flow become erratically
low.

NPSH (Net Positive Suction Head) The net positive suction head required to keep a centrifugal
pump from cavitating. Cooling a liquid in a pumps suction line increases the pumps available
NPSH, as does increasing the liquid level in the suction drum.

Draft A draft is the pressure difference inside a heater firebox and the surrounding air at the
same elevation. The draft causes combustion air to flow through the burners and up the stack.

Convective Heat At the top of a firebox there is another section of the heater packed with tubes.
Usually these tubes have fins or studs. This is the section of the heater where convective heat
transfer occurs. About 30 percent of heat recovered in a process heater is due to convective heat
transfer. A sauna is an example of convective heat transfer.

Thermo-Siphon Circulation (or Natural Circulation) partially vaporizing a liquid causes it to

flow to a higher elevation. The driving force is the density difference between the denser liquid
and the less dense, partly vaporized effluent.