A Working Guide to Process Equipment, Fifth Edition


Book Description

The latest methods for troubleshooting and maintaining process equipment While directed particularly at chemical and petroleum refining process equipment, the new edition of A Working Guide to Process Equipment, revised and fully up-dated throughout, remains applicable to a broad range of technicians and industries, and explains how to diagnose, troubleshoot, and correct problems, without complex equations and computer simulations, without ever losing sight of the importance of direct field measurements and observations. Nine new chapters cover: Determining the Causes of Wet Steam, Distillation Process Engineering Design Errors Technical Adventures from the Past Setting Pressure Relief Valves Applying Process Engineering Technology to Natural Gas Production Reduction of Flare Losses Suppressing CO2 Emissions and Energy Conservation A Final Word - The Earth's Oxygen Content Evaluating Distillation Tray Capacity Filled with examples and illustrations, the new edition of this practical resource continues to demonstrate how theory applies to solving real-world plant operation problems. Selected hand calculation methods are also provided. You’ll gain insights from decades of work from the two authors solving process problems and carrying out test runs in the field, revamping equipment for better efficiency, and the questions and answers explored in the Lieberman's Process Equipment Troubleshooting Seminars conducted.




Working Guide to Process Equipment, Third Edition


Book Description

Diagnose and Troubleshoot Problems in Chemical Process Equipment with This Updated Classic! Chemical engineers and plant operators can rely on the Third Edition of A Working Guide to Process Equipment for the latest diagnostic tips, practical examples, and detailed illustrations for pinpointing trouble and correcting problems in chemical process equipment. This updated classic contains new chapters on Control Valves, Cooling Towers, Waste Heat Boilers, Catalytic Effects, Fundamental Concepts of Process Equipment, and Process Safety. Filled with worked-out calculations, the book examines everything from trays, reboilers, instruments, air coolers, and steam turbines...to fired heaters, refrigeration systems, centrifugal pumps, separators, and compressors. The authors simplify complex issues and explain the technical issues needed to solve all kinds of equipment problems. Comprehensive and clear, the Third Edition of A Working Guide to Process Equipment features: Guidance on diagnosing and troubleshooting process equipment problems Explanations of how theory applies to real-world equipment operations Many useful tips, examples, illustrations, and worked-out calculations New to this edition: Control Valves, Cooling Towers, Waste Heat Boilers, Catalytic Effects, and Process Safety Inside this Renowned Guide to Solving Process Equipment Problems • Trays • Tower Pressure • Distillation Towers • Reboilers • Instruments • Packed Towers • Steam and Condensate Systems • Bubble Point and Dew Point • Steam Strippers • Draw-Off Nozzle Hydraulics • Pumparounds and Tower Heat Flows • Condensers and Tower Pressure Control • Air Coolers • Deaerators and Steam Systems • Vacuum Systems • Steam Turbines • Surface Condensers • Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers • Fire Heaters • Refrigeration Systems • Centrifugal Pumps • Separators • Compressors • Safety • Corrosion • Fluid Flow • Computer Modeling and Control • Field Troubleshooting Process Problems




Process Equipment Malfunctions: Techniques to Identify and Correct Plant Problems


Book Description

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TROUBLESHOOTING PROCESS EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTIONS Process Equipment Malfunctions offers proven techniques for finding and fixing process plant problems and contains details on failure identification. Diagnostic tips, examples, and illustrations help to pinpoint and correct faults in chemical process and petroleum refining equipment. Complex math has been omitted. An essential resource for plant operators and process engineers, this book is based on the author's long career in field troubleshooting process problems. COVERAGE INCLUDES: Distillation tray malfunctions Packed tower problems Distillation tower pressure and composition control Fractionator product stripping Pumparounds Reboiled and steam side strippers Inspecting tower internals Process reboilers--thermosyphon circulation Heat exchangers Condenser limitations Air coolers Cooling water systems Steam condensate collection systems Steam quality problems Level control problems Process plant corrosion and fouling Vapor-liquid separation vessels Hydrocarbon-water separation and desalters Fired heaters--draft and excess O2 Disabling safety systems Vacuum systems and steam jets Vacuum surface condensers Centrifugal pump limitations Steam turbine drivers Centrifugal compressors Reciprocating compressors




Troubleshooting Vacuum Systems


Book Description

Vacuum systems are in wide spread use in the petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries and power generation plants. The existing texts on this subject are theoretical in nature and only deal with how the equipment functions when in good mechanical conditions, from the viewpoint of the equipment vendor. Also, the existing texts fail to consider the interaction of the vacuum system with the process equipment it serves and the variability of the motive steam conditions, change in cooling water temperature condenser fouling and erosion of the ejectors. Here are some of the many questions answered in this groundbreaking volume: Why does my first stage jet make a surging sound during hot weather? Why does the vacuum suddenly break? I've seen moisture condensing on the jet's body! What’s causing that? Why do I have to steam-out the drain legs from our condensers? Superheated steam is making our vacuum worse. Is this normal? How can I locate and measure air leaks? Reducing the steam pressure to my jets improves vacuum. But why? I can't pull the pre-condenser bundle. The shell side is fouling. What should I do? We're not getting our normal horsepower from our steam turbine. Could this be a jet problem? Raising the seal drum level improves vacuum! Is there an explanation for this? Our turbine exhaust steam pressure to our surface condenser has doubled in the last two years. What should we do? Restricting cooling water flow from our elevated condensers improves vacuum! Is this possible? What's a converging-diverging ejector all about? What's the difference between a barometric condenser and a surface condenser? Which is better?




A Working Guide to Process Equipment, Fifth Edition


Book Description

The latest methods for troubleshooting and maintaining process equipment This extensively revised and updated practical resource fully explains how to diagnose, troubleshoot, and correct problems across a broad range of industries—all without complex equations and without ever losing sight of the importance of direct field measurements and observations. This fifth edition features new and expanded coverage of: Causes and Effects of Wet Steam on Turbines and Strippers Distillation Design Errors and Inspecting Tower Internals Setting Pressure Relief Valves on Vessels and Heat Exchangers Reduction of Flare Losses Safer Procedures for Sampling Hazardous Material Taking Field Measurements Safely and Effectively Filled with real-world examples and illustrations, A Working Guide to Process Equipment, Fifth Edition clearly demonstrates how theory applies to solving real-world plant operation problems. Selected hand calculation methods are also provided. Comprehensive Coverage of: Distillation Towers * Tower Internals * Trays and Packing * Pumparounds * Draw-Off Nozzle Hydraulics * Tower Pressure Control * Cooling Water Systems * Instruments * Bubble Point and Dew Point * Vacuum Systems * Surface Condensers * Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers * Natural and Forced Circulation Reboilers * Steam Strippers * Steam and Condensate Systems * Condensers and Air Coolers * Fired Heaters * Steam Generation * Deaerators and Steam Systems * Wastewater Strippers * Steam Turbines * Refrigeration Systems * Catalytic Effects * Centrifugal Pumps * Control Valves * Separators * Centrifugal Compressors and Surge * Reciprocating Compressors * Corrosion * Fluid Flow in Pipes * Super-Fractionation Stage * Computer Control * Field Troubleshooting * Commentary on & need for Suppression of CO2 Emissions




Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers


Book Description

Fractionators, separators and accumulators, cooling towers, gas treating, blending, troubleshooting field cases, gas solubility, and density of irregular solids * Hundreds of common sense techniques, shortcuts, and calculations.




Trevor Kletz Compendium


Book Description

Trevor Kletz has had a huge impact on the way people viewed accidents and safety, particularly in the process industries. His ideas were developed from nearly 40 years working in the chemical industry. When he retired from the field, he shared his experience and ideas widely in more than 15 books. Trevor Kletz Compendium: His Process Safety Wisdom Updated for a New Generation introduces Kletz's stories and ideas and brings them up to date in this valuable resource that equips readers to manage process safety in every workplace. Topics covered in this book include inherent safety, safety studies, human factors and design. Learn the lessons from past accidents to make sure they don't happen again. - Focuses on understanding systems and learning from past accidents - Describes approaches to safety that are practical and effective - Provides an engineer's perspective on safety




Understanding Process Equipment for Operators and Engineers


Book Description

Understanding Process Equipment for Operators and Engineers explains how process equipment functions. As problems often arise in plants that must be solved by unit engineers, this book offers successful solutions and methods for their implementation. The concepts explained are based on Norm Lieberman's personal, hands-on experience. Like you, Norm attended a university and was exposed to technical seminars which did not always provide the needed solutions. In this text, you will learn the functioning of a variety of equipment types, including Fired Heater Draft, Centrifugal Pump Head, Distillation Tray Efficiency, Vacuum Jets, Recip Compressors, Steam Turbines, Thermosyphon Circulation Reboilers and Air Cooler. - Includes methods and procedures on how to make field measurements - Outlines fire heater principles and operation and how they develop draft - Describes distillation column operation and methods to increase their efficiency - Includes computer modeling and provides use case examples




Compressors: How to Achieve High Reliability & Availability


Book Description

Practical techniques for optimizing compressor performance Written by experts with more than 100 combined years of industry experience in machinery failure avoidance, Compressors: How to Achieve High Reliability & Availability offers proven solutions to a pervasive and expensive problem in modern industry--compressor failure. This succinct, on-the-job guide addresses elusive causes of compressor failure and clearly maps out permanent remedies you can put to use right away. With a focus on centrifugal and reciprocating compressors, this accessible reference is based on real-world processes and procedures used by successful global companies. Coverage includes: Compression principles and internal labyrinths Selection factors for process compressors Operation characteristics of turbocompressors Wet and dry gas seals Bearings, stability, and vibration guidance Lube and seal oil systems Impellers and rotors Compressor maintenance and surveillance Inspection and repair of rotors Machinery quality assessment (MQA) Failure analysis and troubleshooting Reciprocating compressor operation, control, maintenance, and rebuilding Maintenance and operations interfaces Reciprocating compressor monitoring and surveillance Training competent compressor engineers




Process Engineering


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.