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Design Emulation and Its Uses in Project Planning, Cost Estimating and Plant Optimisation

Conceptual Design Emulation (CDE) is logic–based mathematical system that can predict the outcome of the work of a project design team. A complex process unit such as crude distillation unit can be ‘designed’ in under 30 seconds, including the thermal design of two dozen heat exchangers, with conceptual layout dimensions and design package all updated. The piping & valve MTO takes a few minutes. However, no drawings are produced. Models have been built for processes such as integrated crude and vacuum units and distillate hydrocrackers, and are only limited by the need to construct catalogues of engineering data for equipment types and piping materials.

Project costs are found to be approximately linear with capacity, whatever the process. As we build ever larger process plants, the apparent cost exponent goes up relentlessly, irrespective of the process. The concept of the two-thirds rule (or six-tenths rule), is simply mistaken. There is no such logarithmic behaviour. Small process plants have an apparent incremental cost exponent of about 0.3, rising towards 1.0 the larger the facility.

CDE expresses the process flow sheet, equipment types, design bases and design policies that are to be used, all in mathematical form. The consequences of a change in any input parameter can therefore be established in seconds. In essence, CDE removes design risk to the cost estimate. It can also be used for design optimisation.

The comparison between plate-shell and S&T HTXs will be used to illustrate this. Laser welded plate-shell heat exchangers are compact and leak proof. The plate-shell variant is particularly strong and lightweight, and an ideal replacement for the traditional shell and tube heat exchanger given its wide range of service applications. Its potential use in gas processing will be described, and the advantages of using it in a gas plant will be evaluated.
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