Process Engineering Beginner's Guide

Process Engineering Beginner's Guide

by Norman P. Lieberman
Released April 2017
Publisher(s): Wiley-Scrivener
ISBN: 9781119370277

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Book description

This is not your average technical book!  Using a humorous and easy-to-understand approach to solving common process engineering problems, this unique volume is the go-to guide for any veteran or novice engineer in the plant, office, or classroom.  Textbooks are often too theoretical to help the average process engineer solve everyday problems in the plant, and generic handbooks are often out of date and not comprehensive. This guide focuses on the most common problems that every engineer faces and how to solve them.  The “characters” walk the reader through every problem and solution step-by-step, through dialogues that literally occur every day in process plants around the world. 

With over half a century of experience and many books, videos, and seminars to his credit, Norm Lieberman is well-known all over the world and has helped countless companies and engineers through issues with equipment, processes, and training.  This is the first time that this knowledge has appeared in a format like this, quite unlike anything ever published before in books on process engineering. This is a must-have for any engineer working in process engineering.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title page
  3. Copyright page
  4. Dedication
  5. Other Books By Norman Lieberman
  6. Introduction
  7. Part I
    1. Chapter One: Process Operations & Design
      1. Increasing Cooling Water Flow Thru an Elevated Condenser or Cooler
      2. Hot Vapor By-Pass Pressure Control
      3. Stalling a Thermosyphon Reboiler
      4. Optimizing Fractionator Pressure
      5. Adjusting Steam Turbine Speed to Minimize Steam Consumption
      6. Steam Condensate Drainage from Reboilers Blowing Condensate Seal
      7. Effect of Reflux on Fractionator Top Temperature
      8. Centrifugal Pump Head Vs. Flow Performance Curves
      9. Condensate Back-Up in Condensers-the Effect of Sub-Cooling
      10. Distillation Tray Downcomer Back-Up and Liquid Flooding
      11. Effect of foam on Level Indication in Distillation Towers
      12. Split Liquid Levels in Vertical Vapor - Liquid Separators
      13. Optimizing Excess Air in a Fired Heater to Minimize Fuel Consumption
      14. Distillation Tray Dumping or Weeping with Valve Cap Tray Decks
      15. Fired Heater - Tube Failures
      16. Low Air Flow in a Fin Fan Forced Draft Air Cooler
      17. Measuring Air Flow For an Aerial Fin Fan Aerial Cooler
      18. Measuring Cooling Tower Efficiency Approach to Wet Bulb Temperature
      19. Adjusting Heater Stack Damper for Optimum Energy Efficiency
      20. Preventing Tray Dumping by Use of Bubble Cap Trays
      21. Demister Fouling in Vapor-Liquid Seperator Vessels
      22. Effect of Temperature on Liquid Level Indication
      23. Draw-Off Nozzle Capacity Limits
      24. On-Stream Repair of Tube Leaks in Surface Condenser
      25. When Are Vortex Breakers Required?
      26. Naphtha Injection to Centrifugal Compressor
      27. Internal Overflow from Total Trap-Out Chimney Tray
      28. Vacuum Ejector – Loose Steam Nozzle
      29. Effect of Tramp Air Leaks on Heater Efficiency
      30. Effect of a Single Fouled Tray
      31. Steam Turbine – Surface Condenser Outlet Temperature
      32. Water Accumulation in Turbine Case
    2. Chapter Two: Crude Distillation
      1. How to Adjust Pumparound Flows
      2. How Top Reflux Rate Affects Flooding on Top Trays
      3. Desalter - Adjusting Mix Valve Pressure Drop
      4. Causes of Tray Deck Fouling
      5. Minimizing Flash Zone Pressure
      6. How to Adjust Bottoms Stripping Steam Rate
      7. Overhead Condenser Corrosion
      8. On-Line Spalling of Crude Pre-Heat Exchangers
      9. Effect of Reflux on Overhead Accumulator Temperature
      10. Removing Trays from Pre-Flash Towers
      11. Total Trap-Out Chimney Tray
      12. Side Draw-Off Limitations
      13. Packed Towers
      14. Rules of Thumb for Packed Towers
      15. Controlling Ago Draw-Off Rate
      16. Filming Amine Plugs Overhead Vapor Line
      17. Stripping Tray Pressure Drop Profile
      18. Protecting Crude Tower Stripping Trays from Damage Due to Water in Steam
    3. Chapter Three: Engineering Basics
      1. Draft in Fired Heaters
      2. Turbine Exhaust Surface Condenser Outlet Temperature
      3. Adjusting Steam Turbine to Save Steam
      4. Distillation Tray Downcomer Seal
      5. Bernoulli’s Equation
      6. Properties of Steam
      7. Measuring Flows
      8. Head Loss in pipelines
      9. Irene Explains Horsepower
      10. Refrigeration
      11. Packed Towers Vs. Trayed Towers
      12. Condensing Steam Turbine Exhaust
      13. Maximizing Lmtd in Heat Exchangers
    4. Chapter Four: Routine Refinery Operating Problems
      1. Pump Bearings Lubrication
      2. Pressure Measurement Problems in Vapor Lines
      3. Negative Pressure Drops
      4. Coked-Up Thermowells
      5. Centrifugal Compressor Surging
      6. Commisioning Steam Turbine
      7. Refrigeration Systems
      8. Seal Pan Drain Hole
      9. Measuring Steam Flow Without a Steam Meter
      10. Air Leak on Suction of Cooling Water Pump
    5. Chapter Five: Refinery Safety
      1. Auto-Ignition of Hydrocarbons
      2. Failure of Mechanical Pump Seals
      3. Sampling Tar Safely
      4. Dangers of Iron Sulfides
      5. H2S Fatalities
      6. Fired Heater – Positive Pressure
      7. Refinery Explosions & Fires
      8. Flooding Fire Box with Fuel
      9. Routing Relief Valves to the Flare
      10. Isolating Equipment with Gate Valves
      11. Explosive Limit of Hydrogen
      12. Climate Change
      13. Danger of Carbon Steel Piping Spool Pieces
      14. Screwed Connections
      15. Dangers of Steam Deaerators
      16. Connecting Steam Hose to Hydrocarbon System
      17. Process Vessel Collapse Under Vacuum During Start-Up
      18. Acid Gas K.O. Drum
      19. Safety Note
  8. Part II
    1. Chapter Six: Pitfalls in Computer Modeling
      1. Basis for Process Engineering Calculations
      2. Underlying Assumptions in Distillation Technology
      3. Tray Fractionation Efficiency
      4. Heat Exchanger Train Performance
      5. Heat Exchanger Pressure Drop
      6. Packed Towers
      7. Air Coolers
      8. Fired Equipment
      9. Piping Systems
      10. Centrifugal Pumps – NPSH
      11. Rotating Equipment
      12. Summary
      13. References
    2. Value of a Chemical Engineering Degree to the Process Engineer in a Refinery
    3. Chapter Seven: Latent Heat Transfer
      1. Propane-Butane Splitter Reboiler
      2. Heat Flux Limitations
    4. Chapter Eight: Hydraulics
      1. Fluids Other Than Water
      2. Rotational Energy
      3. Pressure Drop Through an Orifice
      4. Effect of Fluid Density on Orifice Pressure Drop
      5. Head Loss in Piping
      6. Factor Affecting Orifice Coefficients
      7. Compressible Fluids
    5. Chapter Nine: Air Coolers
      1. Measuring Air Flow
      2. Air Recirculation
      3. Vane Tip Clearance Problems
      4. Cleaning Tube Bundle
      5. Effect of Fouling on Reverse Air Flow
      6. Effect of Adding Rows of Tubes
      7. Changing Fan Blade Tips & Speed
      8. Slipping Belts
      9. Air Humidification
      10. Induced Draft Fans
    6. Chapter Ten: Extracting Work from Steam
      1. An Isentropic Expansion
      2. Steam Turbines
      3. The Potential Energy of Steam
      4. Condensing Steam at Low Pressure
      5. The Meaning of Entropy
  9. The Norm Lieberman Refinery Troubleshooting Seminar Video Presentation
  10. Index
  11. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Process Engineering Beginner's Guide
  • Author(s): Norman P. Lieberman
  • Release date: April 2017
  • Publisher(s): Wiley-Scrivener
  • ISBN: 9781119370277