Page 36 - Plant design and economics for chemical engineers

PROCESS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT 19

that might delay construction are given first consideration. Construction of the
plant may be started long before the final design is 100 percent complete.
Correct design sequence is then essential in order to avoid construction delays.
During construction of the plant, the chemical engineer should visit the
plant site to assist in interpretation of the plans and learn methods for
improving future designs. The engineer should also be available during the
initial startup of the plant and the early phases of operation. Thus, by close
teamwork between design, construction, and operations personnel, the final
plant can develop from the drawing-board stage to an operating unit that can
function both efficiently and effectively.

DESIGN INFORMATION
FROM THE LITERATURE
A survey of the literature will often reveal general information and specific data
pertinent to the development of a design project. One good method for starting
a literature survey is to obtain a recent publication dealing with the subject
under investigation. This publication will give additional references, and each of
these references will, in turn, indicate other sources of information. This
approach permits a rapid survey of the important literature.
Chemical Abstracts, published semimonthly by the American Chemical
Society, can be used for comprehensive literature surveys on chemical processes
and operations.? This publication presents a brief outline and the original
reference of the published articles dealing with chemistry and related fields.
Yearly and decennial indexes of subjects and authors permit location of articles
concerning specific topics.
A primary source of information on all aspects of chemical engineering
principles, design, costs, and applications is “The Chemical Engineers’ Hand-
book” published by McGraw-Hill Book Company with R. H. Perry and D. W.
Green as editors for the 6th edition as published in 1984. This reference should
be in the personal library of all chemical engineers involved in the field.
Regular features on design-related aspects of equipment, costs, materials
of construction, and unit processes are published in Chemical Engineering. In
addition to this publication, there are many other periodicals that publish
articles of direct interest to the design engineer. The following periodicals are
suggested as valuable sources of information for the chemical engineer who
wishes to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field: American Institute
of Chemical Engineers’ Journal, Chemical Engineen’ng Progress, Chemical and
Engineering News, Chemical Week, Chemical Engineering Science, Industrial and
Engineering Chemistry Fundamentals, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Pro-
cess Design and Development, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal

a
tAbstracts of general engineering articles are available in the En@etik Inks.