AUSTRALIA SINGAPORE
Initiation
- Kick-off meeting with client’s team to define project scope and execution strategy
- Conduct site visit to collect essential data for design and project planning
Process
- Develop design basis, outlining key process parameters, requirements, and criteria
- Define process design criteria, including operating conditions, safety margins, and limits
- Generate mass and energy balance to quantify material usage and energy flows
- Perform process calculations to ensure system efficiency meets design specifications
- Perform pressure drop and hydraulic analysis for optimised piping network performance
- Evaluate heat integration opportunities to enhance overall energy efficiency and savings
- Create process flow diagrams (PFDs) and piping & instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs)
- Assess environmental impact and integrate practical mitigation measures into process design
- Conduct HAZOP with the client to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks
- Ensure compliance with all industry standards and mandatory safety regulations
Mechanical
- Prepare lists for valves, piping lines, and spares by documenting quantities and specifications
- Develop datasheets for critical equipment specifying design and materials with performance criteria
- Perform mechanical calculations including stress analysis and sizing by analysing forces and loads
- Design piping systems and fittings considering compatibility and expansion for proper layout and flexibility
- Create MTO lists for all mechanical components by compiling material take-offs and quantities
- Review mechanical design with the client to verify integrity and confirm compliance and performance
- Specify insulation and coating requirements for piping and equipment ensuring protection and durability
- Ensure compliance with mechanical safety standards and codes by following regulatory guidelines
Instrumentation and Control
- Define instrumentation design criteria, including accuracy, response time, and reliability
- Specify control system architecture, ensuring compatibility with process requirements
- Identify key process control loops and establish control strategies for optimal performance
- Develop functional specification for seamless operations, controls, and interface management
- Select and size instrumentation (flow meters, pressure transmitters, temperature sensors, etc.)
- Develop cause-and-effect diagrams for safety interlocks and shutdown systems
- Define alarm management strategy to minimise nuisance alarms and enhance operator effectiveness
- Integrate automation and control systems for efficient monitoring and operation
Structural
- Perform structural calculations to ensure integrity and prepare comprehensive structural lists
- Review structural design with the client to confirm compliance and project requirements
Electrical
- Conduct electrical studies to ensure reliability and prepare detailed instrument lists
- Develop electrical datasheets, specify components, and perform essential calculations
Drafting
- Process flow diagrams (PFDs) illustrate material flow, major equipment, and process sequences
- Piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) show piping, instrumentation, valves, and control systems
- 2D and 3D plant layout develop spatial plans for equipment and piping
- General arrangement (GA) drawings layouts for equipment, piping, platforms, and structures
- Detailed pipe routing and support design specifies pipe pathways, supports, and flexibility considerations
- Mechanical drawings 2D and 3D geometric, dimensioning, and tolerance (GD&T) specifications
- Electrical drawings show power distribution, wiring, and instrumentation connections
- Structural steel drawings diagrams of steel frameworks, beams, platforms, and supports
- Pipe, site, equipment, and plant labelling identifies process lines, equipment, and locations
Modular Plant Design
One of the modular plant design projects which our consulting engineers delivered for a Perth-based client involved designing a modular unit which consisted of basic process control systems (BPCS), safety instrumented systems (SIS), stainless steel tank, skid structure and ladder. This modular design also consists of pumps, instrumentation and process control, pipe and fittings. The project started off by developing the design basis and then completing the process engineering design and mechanical engineering design components.
Modular Plant Design: Process
- Process equipment and pipe sizing
- Calculating pressure drop by simulation
- Multiphase process calculations
- Selecting and sizing valves
- Selecting and sizing instrumentation
- PFDs and piping & instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs)
- Developing the functional specification for process control
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) multiphase simulations
Modular Plant Design: Mechanical
- Mechanical design of tank, skid structure and ladder
- Mechanical stress calculations
- Specifying nozzles and appropriate flanges
- Pipe material and schedule selection
- Pipe fittings selection and sizing
- Pipe routing
- Developing the plant layout
- Finite element analysis (FEA) structural simulations
Applicable Australian Standards:
Modular Plant Design: Pumps Specification
- Electrical performance according to EN60034-1
- Hydraulic performance according to ISO9906
- Mechanical seal according to 12756 & ISO 3069
- International protection marking, IP Code IEC standard 60529
Modular Plant Design: Skid & Ladder Design
- AS 4100:1998 Steel structures
- AS 1657:2018 Fixed platforms, walkways, stairways and ladders
Modular Plant Design: Fabrication
- AS 1170:2007 Structural design actions
- AS 1554:2004 Structural steel welding
Modular Plant Design: Tank Design
- AS 1692:2006 Steel tanks for flammable & combustible liquids
Modular Plant Design: Piping Design
- AS 2129:2000 Flanges for pipes, valves and fittings
- AS 4130:2009 Polyethylene (PE) pipes for pressure application
- AS NZS 2033:2008 Installation of polyethylene pipe systems
- AS 4041:2006 Pressure piping
- AS 1345:1995 Identification of the contents of pipes conduits and ducts
Modular Plant Design: IP Rating
- AS 1939:1990 Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP Code)
Modular Plant Design: Safety Study
- AS IEC 61882:2003 Hazard and operability studies (HAZOP studies)
Modular Plant Design: Drafting
- AS 1100.101:1992 Technical drawing - General principles
- AS 1100.201:1992 Technical drawing part 201 Mechanical engineering drawing
MODULAR PLANT DESIGN: Benefits
The key process plant design deliverables for this modular process plant project were: design basis, equipment & instrument specifications, process flow diagram (PFD), piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID), equipment/valve/instrument list, basic process control systems (BPCS), safety instrumented systems (SIS), functional specification, general arrangement drawings, cost estimate, datasheets, HAZOP study, hazardous area classification and 3D modelling.
In this modular plant, the process equipment, instrumentation, valves, piping components, and electrical wiring were all skid-mounted within a structural steel framework. Heat tracing, thermal insulation, and an integrated control system were all included in this skid-mounted unit. Each skid-mounted unit was designed to be a self-contained process unit and scalable. When a plant needs to ramp up production and increase its production capacity, multiple similar skid-mounted units could be connected together at the process plant site to form a large process system with a higher plant capacity. This modular plant design employed more steel than traditional construction, because each module was designed to stand independently and to withstand the stresses of being transported, lifted, and erected. The skid-mounted units were therefore structurally stronger than conventional units constructed onsite.
The benefits of our process skid-mounted units are they are highly mobile and can be transported from one location to another as and when required. Since they are self-contained, our skid-mounted units have a smaller foot print, thus saving space in the process plant site. Our process plant engineers work closely with fabricators to ensure only quality fit-for-purpose modular units are delivered to the clients. Apart from being highly scalable, each skid-mounted unit can employ different process equipment such that by swapping different skid-mounted units, the modular plant process can be altered to pursue a different process objective. In addition, they are safer to fabricate because they are fabricated offsite. Fabricating modular plants offsite does not interfere with onsite operations and allows onsite process plant upgrade to proceed simultaneously. The ability to complete these steps in parallel can eliminate months off the project schedule, allowing process plants to achieve their goals faster.
We differentiate ourselves from other engineering firms in the sense that all our skid-mounted designs are conducted by our in-house process plant design engineers, supported by our performance-based technology to ensure that all skid-mounted units that our plant engineering designers designed will work effectively prior to fabrication. Our skid-mounted unit can be housed in an open steel frame or housed inside a shipping container. As process plant consultants, we have delivered many skid-mounted units to clients from various industries such as chemical process, mining, pharmaceutical and water industries.
PROCESS PLANT CONSULTANTS
As one of the most knowledgeable process plant consultants providing plant engineering design services, we have successfully designed and delivered several notable chemical plants in Australia and Singapore. The success of a chemical plant depends much on the process technology. Our in-house experienced process engineering consultants ensure that the process technology and process engineering design are viable before proceeding to the next stage of chemical plant design.