Project Constraints: Safety Regulations

Project Constraints
The following figure was taken from the book of Towler and Sinnott (2008). This shows
examples of different constraints, both external and internal, that are faced by chemical
engineers in the design and implementation of chemical engineering projects. The team, to
achieve our listed goals, had also considered several of these constraint that could change or
impede the over-all time schedule of the completion of the project. For the process that we have
selected, we considered the applicable constraints that we may face.
Design Constraints (Towler and Sinnott, 2008)
Safety Regulations
The aspects that we have considered here are the health and safety of the employees
as well as the community that maybe around the area. For example, in the design of the plant,
both its location and plant lay-out were ensured that if there are explosions and fire hazards, the
plant area is of safe distance from the buildings and offices. Firefighting equipment were also
placed adjacent to the plant area. Chemical sheds for storage and disposal for safe-keeping
were also considered.
The over-all design was made to ensure that the environmental, health, and safety
standards governed by authorities such as OSHA, DOLE, EPA and the government are all
followed strictly. Adherence to safety practices in the working area will be strictly enforced in the
form of seminars, trainings, toolbox meetings, safety audits, proper equipment maintenance and
PPE checks. Overall, these aspects were put above efficiency and economics in our MEK plant
design.
Economic Constraints
A major restraint in this project is a favorable economical outcome from designing and
putting up the plant up to the time when the plant will be fully operational. Careful studies of the
process implication on capital investment and profit must be, first of all, carried out from already
existing MEK plant or can be calculated from the start (material balances and selecting
equipment specifications). Calculating for the total capital investment and the net profit of the
process is to be accomplished under the Economics section of this paper.
Process Choice
One of the major restraint in our project is whether or not the chosen process is practical
above all other processes considering and comparing several aspects in mind. Decision
regarding the choice of process was based on four major factors that we considered to be highly
important. These factors (in increasing importance) are the byproducts formed alongside the
main product, resources used, efficiency of the process and cost.
Fewer byproducts formed by the process can mean lower waste management costs for
these byproducts. For the resources used in the process, the fewer resources, combined with
lower selling price, can greatly benefit the company. In terms of efficiency, the quantifiable
aspects the team considered are percent yield and product purity. Higher yield and purity are, of
course, more favorable and significant in selecting the preferred process. For the decision
making process, these factors were carefully researched for each alternative in order for the
selected process to be highly economical and profitable.
Government Controls
The plants operation and procedure will be in accordance to laws and regulations
instituted by the government. Compliance to existing Republic Acts such as solid waste
management, clean air, and clean water acts is to be achieve and necessary revisions or
additions to the plant is to be made to be in accordance with the law. Of course, the safety
measures and accident preventive measures will be established and taken into account
considerably.
Process Conditions
For the selected process, some reactions and separations are carried out in higher
temperature and pressure. Thus, instrumentation and control (I&C) plays a vital role in
monitoring the whole system for any minor and major fluctuations to prevent any accident from
happening. Semi-automatic system should also be installed for the automatic closure of a part
or the whole system, if needed, in any event of failure. However, I&C design is not included in
this paper.
Emission Control
According to EPAs report entitled Locating and Estimating Air Emissions from Sources
of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (1994), process emissions from secondary-butyl alcohol
dehydrogenation are non-condensable VOC (including MEK) and hydrogen from the reactor
vents and distillation column condenser. Fugitive emissions can occur at the scrubber and from
equipment leaks. These process and fugitive emissions can be collected and either burned as
fuel or used elsewhere in the plant complex. The emissions may be continuous or periodic,
depending on the method used to purge non-condensables from the condensers. Storage and
loading emissions can also occur. At present, no emission factors are available for MEK
production processes. Also, little information on emissions controls used in MEK production is
available. One type of control used is incineration, which can potentially reduce MEK emissions
by 99 percent.
In this projects case, hydrogen is to be used as a fuel to augment the electrical
resources. Floating head type of storage tanks is intended to be used since this is
recommended to reduce the emissions from the tanks. Equipment seals should also be present
to minimize the emissions and frequent maintenance and replacement should be done
accordingly.

Project Constraints: Safety Regulations

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Project Constraints: Safety Regulations

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Project Constraints

selected, we considered the applicable constraints that we may face.

Design Constraints (Towler and Sinnott, 2008)

were also considered.

process is to be accomplished under the Economics section of this paper.

main product, resources used, efficiency of the process and cost.

selected process to be highly economical and profitable.

of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (1994), process emissions from secondary-butyl alcohol

In this projects case, hydrogen is to be used as a fuel to augment the electrical

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