Chemical Plant Utilities

Lots of chemicals are used in the chemical manufacturing plant, which takes part directly or indirectly. Today, in this post, we are going to learn about what are chemical plant utilities, and the Importance of utility in the industry.

Utilities in chemical plants are considered to be the backbone of the operations as it help plants to get desired products with optimum operational cost and increase profitability.

What are Utilities in the industry?

Utilities in an industrial plant refer to the essential services and resources required to support and sustain production processes, equipment, and facility operations. These are not directly involved in manufacturing but are critical for ensuring smooth and efficient operations.

What are the types of Utilities used in Chemical plant

There are a number of types of utilities that are being used in the plant operation and that is based on the type of reaction and plant product. Here is a list of utilities described below.

Power Supply

Power supply is the basic requirement for any industry to run as industries comprise of various rotating equipment such as pumps, blowers, electrolyzers, compressors, motors, electric heaters, Instrumentation and Control Systems including PLC or DCS Panels, Conveyor,s and many more.

So this is the essential requirement of a plant and in industry, we get power supply from the Grid system from the state government. Apart from that, we can have a CPP (Captive Power Plant). Thermal Power Plants are used where Fossil fuels such as Coal, Natural Gas, hydrogen and Oil are burned to produce steam that drives turbines connected to generators.

Steam

Steam is another utility that is widely used in plant operations and has a crucial role in processes due to its high energy content, ease of distribution, and ability to maintain temperature and pressure control. Steam is generated chiefly using Boiler where water is boiled to make steam, which is then being distributes.

Steam used in the plant are of different types based on the pressure, such as

1. Low-pressure steam
2. Medium pressure steam
3. High-pressure steam

Steam in plants has different applications, such as heating media in reboilers, heat exchangers, reactors, evaporators, etc. It is used in Stripping column, for cleaning purpose and even in Steam Tracing of the lines.

Water Systems

Water is in different types based on the quality is Used in Industrial Utilities such as below

Process Water:

Water use in the process for dilution of chemicals or in chemicals. This is normally clean and dirt free water with natural pH.

Cooling water:

The water of temperatures 25°C to 32°C used as cooling media in equipment such as reactors, heat exchangers, and condensers.

Cooling towers are used to generate cooling water. The working principle of cooling tower is explained in detail along with the types of cooling towers.

Boiler Feed water:

Treated water which is used in the boiler to generate steam is boiler feed water. This should be of high quality to avoid scaling, corrosion, or contamination in the steam system

DM Water:

Demineralized water is high-purity water that are treated using methods like ion exchange, and reverse osmosis (RO) to remove dissolved minerals, salts, and impurities. It is mostly using pharmaceutical products or in product where high purity is required.

DI Water:

Deionized water goes through a deionization process which is by passing it through ion exchange resins which remove all of its ions (charged particles like cations such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and anions such as chloride, sulfate)

It is also used in pharmaceutical products, power plant and in come reaction where ion free water is required.

Thermic heating fluid (Hot Oil)

For heating purposes in the industry, various other hot utilities are required and Theremic heating fluid is one of them. There are Molten Salts, Silicone-Based Fluids or Glycol-Based Fluids which has high thermal stability.

These are used in heat exchangers, industrial reactors refrigeration units and etc as per requirement.

Hot Water

Water with a temperature of about 60 to 70 °C used as a utility in industrial reactors, heat exchangers, and other equipment as a heating media.

Hot water is generated using heaters and waste heat recovery units.

Chilled Water

Water with temperatures ranging between 4 °C to 17°C (based on the requirement) is chilled water. Chillers are used in industries to generate child water such as vapor Compression Chillers and Absorption Chillers.

It is used as a utility in reactors, condensers, heat exchanges to reduce the reactor content or the process stream temperature.

Refrigeration

Some processes require the process temperature below Zero degree to negative temperature. In this condition, Refrigeration utilities are used such as brine such as Inorganic Salt-Based Brines, Glycol Solutions, Alcohol-Based Brines, Ammonia brines and many more.

Cacl₂, Methanol-based brine, and propylene (C3H6) are widely used as refrigeration to reduce or condense the process stream of low boiling point and used in condensers, heat exchangers, reactors, etc.

Plant Air

The air of Ambient temperature filtered and compressed is used in plants for cleaning, Pneumatic drills, and as a cooling media in reactors. Plant air is dry and clean, with filters to remove contaminants.

Air from the atmosphere is drawn to the Compressor which compresses the air and provides us with plant air.

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is an inert gas which is why, it is widely used to create an inter atmosphere in the equipment. In Air Separation Units mostly, Pressure Swing Adsorption is used to generate Nitrogen which is then passed through the compressor to increase pressure.

Nitrogen is used as Blanketing and Purging, inertisation, Preservation and to take Pneumatic and pressure tests in the equipment or pipelines.

Scrubber

Some reactions liberate gas-containing pollutants that can not be released in plants. To dilute and treat them before releasing in air, scrubbers are used. It is helpful to remove particulate matter, gases, and other harmful substances from industrial exhaust streams, ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and improving safety within the plant.

Wet gas scrubbers ( sodium hydroxide to neutralize acidic gases), while lime scrubbers use calcium hydroxide for similar purposes

Fuel Systems

The plant runs on energy and for that, fuels like LPG, Coal, and Hydrogen gas in boilers, and furnaces are used as a utility.

Importance of Utilities in Industrial Plant Operations

• Utilities are important to run the plant as the reaction need a specific temperature to complete the reaction and conversion from raw material to product and operations such as heating, cooling, and material movement can be possible using utilities.
• Utilities like Nitrogen allow the plant and operation activity safe by preventing fire and explosion risk
• Allows to reduce of pollution and waste water treatment to adhere to environmental standards.
• Effective use of utilities helps in reducing operation costs and increasing profitability
• Helps in maintaining temperature and pressure in the plant to avoid runaway reactions and helps in maintaining overall plant safety.

FAQ(Utilities in Industrial Plant)

Wrapping Up

This was the tutorial on utilities in chemical plants. If you have any additions in the post or you have any doubt, share it in the comment section. You can even ask for any topic that you want us to cover. Till then, do check out our other article related to chemical engineering and industrial safety.