Overview

This seminar will review the benefits and potential for using dynamic process simulation in the design, safe operation and optimisation of process plants.

Process simulation can prove the capability to achieve stable and reproducible operating conditions with acceptable product purity, yield and cycle times whilst satisfying the safety and environmental requirements of the regulatory authorities and achieving acceptable process economics.

Continuous processes are usually studied with steady state simulation, whereas batch and semi-batch processes require dynamic simulation. Dynamic simulations can study the real behaviour of process plant and equipment in regular plant operations and scale-up of new processes, such as:

• process routes select and batch process sequential operations
• pipe network material transfers
• batch distillation process sequence strategy
• batch reactor performance including exothermic reactions
• risk assessment due to equipment failure and identifiable hazardous operating conditions
• emergency relief and blowdown system two phase flow behaviour.

Dynamic simulation allows for the study of process control strategies, performance and interactions. For continuous processes, it allows the study of varying throughput, start-up and shutdown scenarios, feed and composition changes, troubleshooting, control loop tuning and real time optimisation. Applications include:

• equipment sizing and scale up including control valves, surge tanks, columns and reactors
• batch reactor jacket services and boil up control
• heat exchanger sizing, performance and turndown behavior
• batch and continuous distillation operation
• control system performance, interactions and controller tuning optimization.

Speaker

John Edwards, Process Simulation Specialist, P&I Design Ltd, Teesside

John worked for the UKAEA, Sellafield in 1959, in Process Equipment Development, obtaining a Chemical Engineering Degree at Glasgow University in 1963 on a sandwich course basis.

In 1963, he moved to Imperial College, London in the Biochemistry Department, under Professor Chain, and was involved in the design, build, commissioning and operation of the Fermentation Pilot Plant to produce metabolic products.

In 1967, he moved to The Foxboro Company in Massachusetts, working in the projects department applying the technologies, evolving in the 1960’s, namely the changeover from pneumatics to electronics and advanced process control. He obtained an MSc in Engineering Management, on a part time basis, at Northeastern University, Boston in 1971.

On returning to the UK in 1972, he worked for Rohm and Haas Ltd, on Teesside initially as the Senior Instrument Engineer and subsequently as Plant Manager of the Acrylates Production Unit.

In 1978, he formed P&I Design Ltd where the main activities have been process and control system design in the speciality chemical and pharmaceutical fields leading to specialisation in process simulation, in 1998.

John has published several papers and books namely Chemical Engineering in Practice, Process Simulation Dynamic Modelling & Control and Process Measurement & Control.

Webinar

This webinar is free of charge and open to all to attend.

If you are interested in giving an online presentation to our international community of chemical engineers, we would like to hear from you. Please email the support team with information on yourself and your proposed talk.