Chemical Plant Construction Materials

[tfin]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a resource that has a good list of the materials used/equipment installed in early stage construction of a typical chemical plant? A reference to a web-resource or text book would be very much appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time.

 

[MatthewL]

tfin,

Ain't no such thing as a "typical" chemical plant. Too many variables involved. For example, is it an exothermic or endothermic process? Or both? What are the approved/recommended materials of construction for your raw materials? How about the finished product? If it is truly a reactive process, what pressures do you have to contain, and at what temperatures? What reaction process is it? Continuous? Batch? Semi-batch? Is there a hazardous waste stream to deal with? How do you get your raw materials? RR tanker (liquids)? Bulk solids? 55# bags? Same question for the finished goods. The process you are looking to implement will give you the answers to the above question, and until you know the process, you are shooting in the dark as far as materials/equipment/utilities. But, for a start, you will likely need:

A utility pad/building, likely with a steam boiler, cooling tower, possibly a low temperature cooling source (chilled water, ammonia, glycol, etc.), possibly a high temperature heating source (think Dowtherm, Calflo, etc.), possibly a reverse osmosis or deionizing system (recommended for the boiler even if you don't need it for the process), environmental systems (condensers, flares, overflow tanks, blah, blah, blah), fire suppression, and more.

A reaction/process building, with reactors, feeders, intermediate storage tanks, yadda yadda yadda.

At least one warehouse/tank farm for raw materials.

Probably another warehouse/tank farm for finished goods.

If you are using tank farms, you will probably need a shipping building where the connections are made between tank wagons and the pumps/lines needed to load/offload the tank wagons.

For text books, try Product & Process Design Principles, by Seider, Seader & Lewin.

But, without knowing the process involved, you are still shooting in the dark.

Regards,

Matt

Quality, quantity, cost. Pick two.

 

[astabell]

tfin,

I would start by reading the IBC, IFC, and relevant NFPA codes. This will give you a good starting point for what you're going to need. You'll need to read the codes with your application in mind.

He's a link to the IBC and IFC I use often:

http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/ibc/2012/icod_ibc_2012_5_sec009.htm

http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/ifc/