Ch~pter Three

FLOW SHEET
PREPARATION

To most students, a flow sheet is a chart, printed in a book, containing a collection

of symbols each crudely depicting an item of industrial equipment. Symbols are
interconnected by straight line segments assembled in oblique, tortuous paths. The
so-called qualitative flow sheet, described thus, is employed frequentlv and usefully
to illustrate the general organization of a chemical process, but it has little value in
industry.
To the practicing engineer, a flow sheet (diagram or chart) is quite different.
Althouth it can be one of several types (process, mechanical, utility. etc.), in this
book, the flow sheet, stated without qualification, denotes the process flow sheet-a
key instrument for defining, refining, and documenting a chemical process.
The process flow diagram is the authorized process blueprint, the framework
for cost estimation, and the source of specifications used in equipment designation
and design. When "canonized" in its final form through exhaustive computation
and vigorous discussion, it achieves the status of scripture; it is the single,
authoritative document employed to define, construct, and operate the chemical
process.

SKETCHING TECHNIQUES
Imitating a famous newspaper, a more humble publication printed the following
slogan on its masthead: .. All the news that fits the print." This, in many respects,
describes the layout of an industrial flowchart. Unlike qualitative documents, which
are often distorted, by necessity, to fit limitations of a printed page, the sheet size
itself is expanded to accommodate the detail required. In conventional practice,
oversized (typically 60 cm X 90 cm) flowcharts are folded and stowed in special
pockets bound with the design report or .. package." For less elaborate processes or
reports and when illustration is more important than precision and detail.
photoreduction and fr.ldcut sheets are employed. Diagrams of many large. complete
plants exceed the capacity of a single, manageable sheet of paper and are
represented as process segments or modules ( each on a separate sheet) related to one
another through an appropriate Jin king code. Some firms are said to fit the diagram
on a single linear sheet even if it must be 6 meters long.
Beyond symbols and lines, what must a complete process flow diagram

25
26 FLOW SHEET PREPARATION

TABLE 3-1
~LEMENTS OF A PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM
Essential Constituents
Equipment symbols
Process stream flow lines
Equipment numbers
Equipment names
Utilities designations
Temperature and pressure designations on process lines
Selected volumetric and molar flow rates
A material balance table keyed to flow lines
Optional Constituents
Energy exchange rates
Major instruments
Physical properties of process streams

contain? It must include equipment identification numbers and names, temperature

and pressure designations, utility identifications, volumetric or molar flow rates for
selected process streuuis, um) a material balance table keyed to process lines. In
addition, it may contain other information such as energy exchange rates and
instrumentation. The .. musts" and the .. mays" are listed in Table 3-1, although the
dogmatic emphasis may be somewhat overdrawn (qualitative variations do occur in
industrial practice).

ILLUSTRATION 3-1
You have been asked to prepare a flow sheet for a small, oil-fired stream generator.
For assistance, Table J-2~ containing stream designation symbols, Figure 3-1, giving
flow sheet equipment illustrations, 'and Table 3-3, with its instructions for
equipment designation, may be consulted.
Your project supervisor has identified the unit as a water-tube, ..packaged"
(i.e., shop-constructed) steam boiler. It is to produce 1.39 kg/s saturated steam at 20
barg (gage pressure in bar or 0.1 MPa). Eighty percent of the steam will be returned
as condensate. The energy source will be number 6 (i.e., residual) fuel oil.

From past experience and background reading [2, I I, 13], you can identify the
rough equipment inventory. The boiler itself consists of small tubes within a larger
furnace structure. Some of the water-filled tubes (so-called water-wall or radiant
tubes) line the wall of the combustion chamber where oil is atomized, mixed with air
from the blower, and burned. Combustion products, through careful arrangement
of baffles, flow past banks of closely spaced tubes (the convection section) wherein
heat is transferred to boiling water inside the tubes. The process flow diagram,
accordingly, must show an oilpt!mp, {f:dower, heat exchangers, and other essential
components. Since this is a "battery,-i~its" flo;w cl1agram, ·it does not include such
auxiliary facilities as storage tank, adliii-inistrative buildings, electrical substation,
a·nd the demineralized water plant. The equipment configuration is illustrated in a
qualitative sketch comprising Figure 3-2. 1 It is not a flow- sheet yet, but it already

"Appropriate templates for flow sheet sketching are Cherrette No. 150, Koh-I-Nor No. 830050.
Picket No. 1053, RapiDesign No. R-50, Timely No. 48, or equivalent.
 SKETCHING TECHNIQUES 27

TABLE3-2
FLOW SHEET SYMBOLS FOR STREAM OESIGNA TION AND
IDENTIFICATION

Symbol Definition Symbol Definition

ProuaSmmNS Vii&:,~

©-- l 8 Cornpreaal air (A-12. e.g.. would denote 12 bqJ

(cTw)
1·--·•ftu•
Cooling waw (tower)

LJ· (Identify strNm by name)

~TWR) Cooling wal!!r ren.m (tower)

e- @ Cooling ..... (nallnl soun:eJ

}-~~-
(cwo) Cooling water dilcharge(nn,nd rec:eMr)

-0 CB Electricity I E - 220. e.g .• would deno1le 220 ¥OIU}

£:) (Identify stream by Mme)

(HO-) Hot oil f H0-300.e.g.. would denote JOO°C)
___.
(HW-) Hot.- (HW-150. e.g.. would denote 150"C]
Designates • skip or brNk
in a process line on the {HWA) Hot water return

0 sheet. .. B" is. m.ich let·

ter to identify the streem
at anodler place on ttNl'swne
or an adjoining sheet
0 Refrigerant (R-10. e.g., would denote -10"C}

0 Stam (S-15. e.g.. would denote 15 bwa pre,sure)

<>
C:J
Stream designation for
material balance point

Temperaturw (°C)
® Steam condensate

® Oeminefalized water

0 Pressure (barg (0.1 MPa gage))

@ Municipal water

0 Pre9Ure(kPa gage) @ Proces-

~ Pre.ure (kPa etolute)

<==> Gas flow (ad m3/s;

ideal ps at 273 K. 1 atm)

~ ~ liquid flow (lh9rsls)

£:7 M• flow (kgfs)

c=) Molar flow (kgmolls)

(Assembledfrom information provided by A. 0. Beattie and from refef'ence (1))

includes the following characteristics, which are common to almost all commercial
flowcharts.

l Flow is from left to right with ra« materials entering from the left and finished
products or waste streams leaving at the right.
2 The flow sheet is oriented horizontally with equipment elevations in the diagram
resembling those in the real process. Some f reedom is permitted with vertical
spacing to allow adequate room for flow lines. to provide efficient use of paper,
and to give visual balance. Horizontal spacing of equipment> on the other hand,
 Auxiliary Faciliti~

Dried

Air plant

water
Air plant Boiler Olimney or stack Cooling tower Water
deionizer or
demineralizer

- -·--~ J
Flue gases Spent
Fuel Feed
refrigerant Refrigcrat inn
and air Electrical
power pl~nt
Electric
. ·,>
pOW9r
Fuel
a•iu air
-~ unit
1-resh

refri09rant

Electric power plant. Electric substation Flare Incinerator Refrigeration unit

Flue

Sewage treatment
Sludge
j I
and air

Thermal fluid Water treatment

!>ludge

plant heater plant

~l ~' 751---~
\I I\ Q \~ ~l
Apron or belt Auger (screw. helic.il) Bucket Continuous flow
elevator (chain. flight)

f'neumatic Vibratory

Figure 3-1 Equipment symbols for flowcharts. Symbols are organized according to the
generic categories found in Table 4-1. (Assembled from information provided
by R. D. Beattie and from Austin [I].)
 Crushers, Mills. Grinden

or
--,

____..
Jaw
01
9--
Gyratorv
[QI_
Impact
(tiammer, rotor, ~I
- Roll

Millsand grinders

Q.
Rolling compmaion
(bowl, 911n, riot-roll)
l_
Disk
(Attrition)
~
Tumblingor vibrating
(rod. ball)
lL Hammer

compressed
Stumort
gas +

Fluid energy Rourycuner

dicer)
(chipper.

Drives and Power Recovery Machines

Fu§e1irr
and

D Exhaust

Electric:motor or generator Internal combustion engine Turbine or expander

Figure 3· 1 ( Continued)

29
 Evaporators and Vaporizers

Evaporators

Heating
medium Heating
Heating medium
medium

Once through Circulating

Short tube
(bask~ calandrial Long tube Falli"!t--film

-~
Heating
lieating .
medium

Agitated-film
(scraped-wall I

Venical Horizontal
Forced-<irculation

~=~
~;•m
Venical

Heating
medium

Horizontal
Vertical Horizontal
Jacketed vessels Submerted-<:oil Bayonet

Figure 3_1 ( Continued)

30
 and air
Boiler
feed water

Water-tube and utility Fire-tube ThenNI fluid system

Flw

and air

Processhater Incinerator

Gas Mowws. Compn,son, Exhausten

Centrifugal Axial

Utility
fluid

Figure 3-1
c-,;1u991
()( turbo

( Continued)
Axial Reciprocal piston i
Ej.ctor

3·1
 Gas-Solid Contacting Equipment

Vent

~ ~"'
~ medium
Drying {
medium Drying
medium

Tunnel Rotary Vertical tower Vibrating conveyor

Solids
Heating in
Gas
~ent out Gas
medium

Heati~
medium
~· ~!''~

Drum dryer Screw-conveyor dryer

;_,. Solids
Solids Solids
out
out out
Direct Indirect

Gravity ,sh;,h Fluid bed contactor

contactor

Gas
Solids
out
in

Solid-liquid
dispersion

Gos
out

Gas
in

Solids Solids
out out

Spouted-bedcontsctor Pnt11Jmatic convlt)'or Spray towel contsctor

contact or

Figure 3-1 (Continued y

32
 Pl'ocaafluidon Proc:asfluidon Process fluid on Process fluid on
tube side shell siM tube side shellside.
Counterflow Parallel flow

V•:.;:,,~idjt \lapor

Heatingmediu~ .
Hating
Feed medium
liquid
Bonoms liquid
Pl'oc:ess fluid on Pr-fluid on Feed
lhefl side IUt. lide liquid

Kettle

fluid jet Orifice plate

fpipelinel
Axial Radial
Gas sparver Pump Propeller Turbine
(agitated-line l
Agitated tanks

Kneader Extruder Roll Muller Rotor. ribbon

Figure 3-1 (Continued)

33
 Process Vessels

Packed :Bubble {spargedl Spray Proprietary

Tray

Venturi scrubber

Holdup

Flash or knockout

Axial flow O!ntrifugal Rotary

{µositive displacement)
Reciprocating
t
Jer

Figure 3-1 (Continued)

34
 Re.cton
(See om« equipment listed in Table 4-211

Centrifuge Cyclone Electrostatic precipitator Oarifier, thickeMr

or bag filter

Wesh

v
Wash

Feed~.
Filtrate

T, Cake Wdl
Filtrate

Cartridge filter ~nd filter Continuous process Pine end fnlme. Scn,en
filter shell end .... filter

Figure 3-1 (Continued)

35
 Size-Enlargement Equipment

Tableting press

Roll-type P••» Pl!llelmill

Extruder Disk aggtomerator Orum agglomerator Prilling tower

Storage Vessels

Fixed-roof t-loatmg-roul
n
w
Gas holder
(conical)
Bin

Pressure s,ura!I"

Open yard
Vertical Horizontal
Cylindrical Soherical

Figure 3-1 (Continued)

36
 <
<

TABLE.3-3
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DESIGNATING EQUIPMENT ON THE PROCESS
FLOW SHEETa
Equipment Numbering System
1. Number each process area, starting with 100, 200, 300, etc.
2. Number major pieces of process equipment in each area, starting with 11 O. 120,
130, etc.
3. Number supporting pieces of equipment associated with a major process unit
by starting with the next higher number than the major process unit, e.g .. 111.
112. 113, 114 for supporting pieces associated with 110.
4. Attach a prefix letter to each equipment number from the following list to
designate type. The equipment list might then appear thus:
F-110 8-120 0-210
G-111 G-121 E-211
E-112 G-122 G-212
E-113 E-213
5. The first nine numbers in each area are reserved for equipment servicing the
entire area such as a packaged refrigerating unit (e.g., P-105). However. any
packaged unit may be broken into its components and numbered as in steps 2
to 4.
6. Use letters following the equipment number to denote duplicates or spares
(e.g., G-111A, B denotes two identical pumps in G-111 service).
Equipment Lettering System
A. Auxiliary facilities.
8. Gas-solids contacting equipment (calciners, dryers, kilns).
C. Crushers, mills, grinders.
D. Process_vessels (distillation towers, absorption columns, scrubbers, strippers,
spray towers).
E. Heat exchangers (coolers, condensers, heaters, reboilers).
F. Storage vessels (tanks, drums, receivers, bins, hoppers, silos).
G. Gas movers (fans, compressors, vacuum pumps, vacuum ejectors).
H. Separators (bag filters, rotary filters, cartridge filters, centrifuges. cyclones,
settlers, precipitators, classifiers, extractors).
J. Conveyors (bucket elevators, augers, belts. pneumatic conveyors).
K. Instruments (control valves, transmitters, indicators, recorders. analyzers).
L. Pumps.
M. Agitators, mixers.
N. Motors, drives, turbines.
P. Package units (refrigeration. air units, steam generators, cooling towers, etc.).
Q_ Furnaces, process heaters.
R. Reactors.
S. Size-enlargement equipment.
V. Vaporizers and evaporators.
X. Miscellaneous.
Source Assembled from information provided by R. D. Beattie.

3Numbering
techniques vary from one organization to another. These guidelines are those
preferred by the author and are applied consistently in this text.

37