Process Engineering Department

If you can't define it, how do you know you need it?

This may, or may not help.

Books for Process Engineering Department guidelines

Hi

I can define it , I would just like to research global trends in terms of this department and ensure our scope of work is well defined and covers all aspects.

Wow!

Ya I think you just won a brevquot award for summarizing an entire discipline in 393 words. ga

Hi

Heres one of my problems, there are so many versions of what a process engineering department is meant to do....im looking at optimising the current coal fired power station processes and control and outputs.

Hi PennPiper,

I have just started working as process engineer in an EPCM company. I am struggling with many terms like the proper use of the insulation requirements, possible heat tracing criteria for the piping and the special conditions such as "Do Not Pocket," "Slug Flow," "Slope," "Vacuum". Could you please elaborate?

• Do Not Pocket - This means that the line will free drain, it does not have any pockets to trap liquids. It also does not have any trapped high points that will trap vapors.
• Slug Flow - This refers to a pipe line that has (or can have) both liquid and vapor in the line at the same time. This is bad because the line does not function properly and often results in the "Water Hammer" effect which if bad enough can cause major damage to the piping system or the connected equipment.
• Slope - This is any line that has one end lower that the other. It can be as simple as a sewer drain or a major process line from a Crude Heater to the Crude Fractionation Tower. This latter line must slope up in the direction of travel to prevent Vapor Lock.
• Vacuum - This is a condition of no pressure or a negative pressure below atmospheric. This can mean any vessel or piping system that may operate in a state of vacuum. It may refer to a vessel or piping system that may become subjected to a vacuum condition if the product (Steam) inside the system cools and there is no way to allow air in.
  

Dear Pennpiper,

Thanks for the reply. I have another question: Why the heat tracing is used and what are the different choices, which one is cheapest?

Thanks,

Imran

Imran,

Supplemental Heat application is used for two reasons, environmental and process.

• Environmental -This is to keep a fluid (water) from Freezing
• Process - This is to lower the viscosity of a fluid so it can be pumped and not "Set" up in the pipe line or equipment
  

Heat application may be "Hot: or "Cold"

• Most applications are "Hot" Tracing to prevent unwanted cooling
  
• There are some fluids/processes where the fluid is "Exothermic" and needs to be "cooled"

Methods:

• There is single bare tracer (tubing 1/2", 3/4" etc)
• There is multiple bare tracer
• There is tracer tubing with a Heat Transfer compound
• There is "Contra-Trace" a formed channel like shape fitted to the pipe
• There is Jacketed Pipe, a pipe inside another pipe.

Fore more on this subject see: http://www.csiheat.com/

Hi PennPiper,

Thanks for the the reply. This is amazing, the details and your expert opinion. I was unable to get this answer from many of my colleauges. I am so much thankful for your time!

Best regards,

Imran

miks

You asked about "Insulation" and I missed answering it.

There are four different reasons for Insulation, three are temperature related and one is Sound related.

These are:

IA = Insulation, Acoustic (Anti Sound) - key feature here is the thickness and density of the material in addition to the placement. The placement is on piping downstream of a valve or Orifice meter that creates unacceptable noise above a certain established level.

IC = Insulation, Cold - key features with "Cold" Insulation is that all metallic parts in direct with the process fluid will be insulated. This includes pipe, fittings, flanges, valves, supports (welded to the pipe), control valves, Instruments, etc. Also Cold Insulation may be thicker than most "Hot" insulation.

IH = Insulation, Hot - key feature with "Hot" insulation is that flanges and valves are often not insulated. Exception: If the line is Heat Traced the flanges and valves may be traced and insulated. When Heat Tracing will be included the designation is IH ST and sometimes IH ST 2-1/2" (indicating: Insulation, Hot, Steam Traced, two , 1/2" tracer tubes)

IS = Insulation, Safety (Personnel Protection) - this is normally thin (1" or 25mm) Hot Insulation and only applied where an operator or maintenance worker might touch the line during the normal course of their work. Some companies may use the designation IP or just PP. There is no absolute right or wrong on the designation.

Sorry for the delay.

Our ceramic ball valve used to solve the problem of ash-discharge and desulphurization,can last a service life longer than metal or other alloy valves.Hope you can do something for you in future.

You might so useful information at Red Bag Engineers. Look under Library. http://www.red-bag.com/

If you are working at a nuclear power station then take a look at the NRC regulations, NQA1, and several industry standards. The will provide what you are looking for.

If, on the other hand you are working in a more conventional, less regulated environment start simple with the essential reason for having an engineering department in the first place. Thus, the engineering department mission is found within the operations mission to effectively operate, maintain, and improve the facility on an ongoing basis. The reason for having an engineering department, in my view, is to support effective ongoing operation and maintenance of the existing facility and to provide improvements that ensure long term business viability.

Normally the Operations Department operates the facility, as it exist, in the most effective way possible. They make improvements as required, but always within the defined technical baseline (limitations) of the equipment. Deviation outside the defined safe envelope of operation is not allowed. In short, Run what you have in the most effective way possible, but don't change the authorized limits of operation.

The Maintenance Department maintains the facility so that the equipment is available to operate at or above rated capability when needed. In performing this function, deviation from authorized equipment specification is not allowed. In short, fix what's broke per the approved procedures, but don't add new or different stuff.

The Engineering Department is in the change and improvement business - new and improved equipment, new ways of doing things, new methods, process modification, capacity expansions, risk minimization and mitigation, and so on.

There is normally people devoted to identifying and solving the ongoing issues faced by the Operations and Maintenance Departments, people devoted to providing new and improved equipment, people tasked with analyzing and managing proposed changes in a timely way, and people tasked with managing facility safety management (not personnel safety such as OSHA compliance, but risk identification and mitigation). How these folks are organized doesn't matter as much as having the functions covered and staying focused. In a small organization all the engineering people could report to one manager. In a large organization several functional managers could report to a single department head.

Above all else, an effective engineering department is a service organization devoted to ongoing, long term facility improvement.

I hope this helps.

Hi

I think I need to add detail to my needs so here goes,

We are a coal fired power station with system engineers(mechanical) who look after each plant eg mills, draught group, turbine centre line etc.But to me they look at the hardware and not really the overall process parameters e.g. their system starts from this valve to this valve and they ensure its in working order.We would like to start a process engineering department to look at the process and optimization thereof.We need to put together a proposal to management to start the department which should include the purpose,objectives and outcomes and difference between process engineers and system engineers as well as how we are going to make a difference as a department.

PS: Thanks for all the comments so far, all food for thought !!

Maybe this is what you are looking for. It is not from the power industry, its from oil refining, but it may be analagous.

In my early career I worked for one of the major oil companies in what was called the "Refinery Technical Services Department". This was a group of about 50 people, total including the top guy who was a "Director" and four "Section Heads" that managed the working groups. The Director was one of the key people in the management team of that refinery. The department was organized into small working groups of 4 to 5 engineers each. Each group had an assigned area of the refinery to look after. We "monitored" the process, i.e. followed its operation to make sure that it was running efficiently, getting the best product, and conforming to specification and documented operating procedure. We made periodic "test runs" which consisted of taking data and samples around the unit and doing the calculations to be assured that things were running properly, i.e. catalyst activity ok, reactor stream analysis correct, etc. The guys in these groups were the "experts" in the technology involved in their respective refinery processes. We would be the ones to call the shots if a change was needed at the unit, like a catalyst carbon burn for example.

When there came a time to expand the capacity of the refinery unit, the Technical Service groups were the ones to produce the calculations on what equipment needed to be changed or sized-up, etc. That information was turned over to other engineering groups that actually did design and project management work for the capital project such as described by an earlier commenter in this thread under definition of process engineering.

The Technical Services groups were closely aligned with the company's R&D Center which was located adjacent to the refinery at that time. If R&D was evaluating a new catalyst or a new methodology for a refining operation there was information exchange and a process "teaching" element that transferred new technology into the refinery through the Tech Services Department.

We were called "process engineers" and had a healthy respect from all the operating and maintenance groups in the refinery. This was based on having a deeper knowledge of the internal processes taking place in the equipment comprising these units, which were massive in size, operating at harsh conditions of temperature and pressure, and with a degree of hazard from highly flammable, toxic, and explosive materials.

While it is not exactly the same, I could see that a large coal fired power station could have similar needs and could benefit from a Tech Services organization operating in this fashion. It might be staffed with more mechanical engineers than ours which was almost all chemical engineers, but the approach and even some content of the work would be quite similar. Combustion, Flue Gas treatments, coal processing, feed water treatment and many other operations in the Power Station need monitoring to assure process integrity by skilled engineers much the same as we performed in the refinery. Chemical engineers are particularly well trained for that kind of work.

thanks, those interfaces are interesting points for consideration.

A lot of good comments here. I might add one more thought. It is absolutely necessary that any technical organization that includes a multitude of disciplines be organized in a fashion of checks and balances. Please look at the responsibilities and priorities that govern a job, then you will see if the organization is structured correctly.

In the matter of who reports to whom will depend on the objectives of who and whom. For example, the objective of a project manager/engineer is to ensure a project comes in on time and under budget. Is it possible that the project manager will be forced to make the decisions to lower the specs on something in order to accomplish "under budget"?

I have seen all sides and by far have never seen a successful process engineering dept. that reported to the project group or manager, unless you like "getting left holding the bag". When it comes to money, it is important to remember the engineering creed and the definition of the word "integrity".

So again please develop your process engineering dept. as a separate entity and show why this must be done for the process, the environment, the operations and the long term success of the company.