M I N I A T U R E P L A N T

Description of Miniature Plant:

It is a Plant having one sided operation. It does not
produce anything. It is only a closed circuit Plant. It has five major parts.
This Plant involves

Parts of Miniature Plant:

This is a Plant consisting on five (5) major parts
which are as under:

Ammonia Circulation Section

Steam generation Section

Cooling Tower Section

Instrument Air Compressing Section

Piping Model

1.Ammonia Circulation Section:

Circulation of Ammonia in Miniature Plant consist
of Steam Generation Section, Cooling Tower Section, anti-pollution
section, instrument air compressor and blow down tank. Reaction taking
place in Ammonia Circulation Section is as under
NH3 + H2O === NH4OH (exothermic reaction)
 Circulation of Ammonical Solution:
First of all NH3 Gas comes from the cylinders. It
is then entered into the absorber which is filled with up to 60% water.
This water comes from upper side of the tank from packing. This gas
makes a solution with water which is known as Ammonical solution.
This solution passes through a feed pump. In this pump it is pressurized
up to 3kg/cm.cm . After getting the pressure it is sent to a high pressure
pump where it is again pressurized up to 50kg/cm.cm . Then it is sent to
a High pressure vessel where Nitrogen (N2) is also injected through a
inlet of the cylinder. From this section high pressure ammonical solution
is sent to the Stripping Tower .
The reaction taking place in stripping tower is as under:
NH4OH === NH3 + H2O
Where its pressure lowers up to 3kg/cm.cm ,due to low pressure
expansion of gases takes place and NH3 evolves from the Ammonical
Solution of it with water. This evolved ammonia is returned towards the
absorption unit .To low down the temperature of the vessel cool water is
introduced from the bottom of the vessel where it is used and then sent
to the cooling tower for its reprocessing. Because of the stripping of the
NH3 gas from the stripping section the remaining solution becomes very
weak ammonical solution which goes to the water cooler, where it is
cooled with the cool water coming from the cooling water section. After
the cooling of this weak ammonical solution it goes to the NH3 absorber.
This cooled ammonical solution is sprayed at its top. Now NH3 gas and
N2 coming from the top of the stripping tower is injected from the
bottom of the absorber tank. In case of incomplete absorption of NH3
gas then this is sent to antipollution section where it is converted into N2
gas and sent into air. As NH3 is so much injurious to health so thats why
it is not discharged in the air. In short this section is used for the safe and
healthy circulation of Ammonia and its solution
Diagram:
2. Steam Generation Section (Boiler):
A close tank in whichwater is converted into Steam under high
pressure is known as Boiler

Types of Boiler:
There are two major types of boiler which are as under:
( a ) F i r e T u b e B o i l e r
(b) Water Tube Boiler

(a).Fire Tube Boiler:

Fire tube boilers are low pressure, low capacity units used
mainly in small Plants. A fire Tube boiler consists of a large steel
cylinder (shell) that contains a rest of small diameter steel tubes.
Hot Combustion gases pass through the tubes and transfer heat to the
water in the shell.
(b).Water Tube Boiler:

A water tube boiler is a boiler in which water circulates in the tubes.

This boiler differs from fire tube boiler in the location of water and gas
flow. The water circulates through the tubes and the hot combustion
gases known as flue gases flow through the furnace. The hot gases
contact the tubes and transfer heat to the water. The cross sectional area
of water tubes is much smaller than that the shell of five tubes boiler.
Thus water tubes boiler can handle higher steam pressure and
temperature than fire tube boiler.
When the fuel burns in the boiler following reactions take place
C + O2 = CO2
S + O2 = SO2
2H + O2 = 2H2O
(These reactions are of Complete Combustion of fuel. These gases
are shifted towards stack)
Incomplete Combustion:
Incomplete combustion of fuel causes due to the insufficient
amount of air for fuel to burn.
2C + O2 == 2CO
Fuel is wasted due to incomplete combustion.

Difference between Fire and Water Tube Boiler:

1 .Fire tu be Boiler Occup ies less sp ace than water tu b e
bo iler.
2 .Fire tu be Boiler is less co stly to pu rchase and install .
3 .Water tub e bo iler is mo re efficient than Fire tub e bo iler.
4 .Water tub e bo iler is mu ch safe th an Fire tub e bo iler.
5.Explosion danger is more in water tube boiler because pressure
is exerted on small diameter tubes rather than on a large shell.

Boiler Characteristics:

Capacity:
Capacity refers to the steam or heat output of a boiler .
The term used to express capacity depends on the size of the boiler.
Boiler manufacture indicates the capacities of medium and large boilers
in pounds of steam per hour (at a specified temperature and pressure).
Capacity of small boilers is expand in term of total square feet of
heating. One boiler horse power equals to a heat output of 33475 Btu/hr.
If a boiler produces more steam than the rated capacity can be given as
percentage of rating percentage equals the actual capacity divided by
rated capacity

produces more steam than the rated capacity can be given as percentage
of rating percentage equals the actual capacity divided by rated capacity.
 Pressure:
A boiler is classified by the pressure at which it operates. Fire tube
boilers pressure generally ranges between 50-250Psi.Water tube boiler
pressures can be as high as 5000 Psi

Duty:
Duty is the steam demand made on a boiler by the heating process.
The duty required of a boiler determines the load it carries according to
design capacity. A boiler can operate at minimum normal or maximum
load.
Economizers and Preheaters:
The devices increase the capacity and efficiency of a boiler by
recovering heat from flue gases. An economizer to a nest of small tubes
placed at the flue gases outlet of the boiler. Feed water at low
temperature of the boiler flows through the tube sand gases and absorb
heat from the hot gases passing around the outside of the tubes. Thus an
economizer lowers steam cost because less fuel is needed to heat feed
water to its boiling point .An air pre heater uses the heat from the flue
gases to warm incoming air that will support combustion. A pre heater is
usually placed between the economizer at the stack.
Why Steam is Ideal for Carrying Heat Energy:
In heating water it takes 1 Kilocalorie to rise the temperature of 1 kg
of water through it. It takes an additional of 539 kilocalorie to change 1
kg of water to steam. This amount of heat is then stored in the steam.
When steam condenses the heat energy is given off. Water is also used
to carry heat energy because of following reasons:
1.It is easily available.
2.It is cheaper.
3.It has an ideal behavior.
4 . It is foun d on earth in ev ery state.

Sensible Heat:
The heat required to bring change in water is known as Sensible
heat.
Latent Heat:
The heat which does not rise the temperature but bring a
change inthe state of water is known as Latent Heat

The heat which does not rise the temperature but bring a change inthe
state of water is known as Latent Heat

Causes of Heat Loss:

Causes of heat loss are as under:

1.Scaling
2.Radiation
3.Decrease in diameter of tubes.
4.Presence of Salts in water

Water Treatment for Boiling:

A boiler requires a supply of purified feedwater to
produce the high quality steam. The source is usually natural water
fromrivers. Water is an active solvent which means it collects dissolve
substances. Naturalwater therefore contains suspended solids dissolved
gases such as H2 , O2 , H2S and NH3

Scaling:
The impurities in water which it contains cause corrosion and stop
the boiler efficiency to work properly. It causes due to dissolved salts in
water.Scaling is due to following factors:
1 .Process with un treated water.
2.Incomplete Composition due to imbalance ratio of fuel and air.
3.No preheat of air.
4 .Ov erheatin g wh ich melts the tub es of b oiler.
Temporary Hardness:
Presence of bicarbonates of calcium and magnesiumcauses the
hardness of water which is known as temporary hardness. It can
beremoved by heating the hard water.
Ca(HCO3) CaCO3 + H2O + CO2
Mg(HCO3) MgCO3 + H2O + CO2

Permanent Hardness:
Presence of chlorides and sulphates of Calcium (Ca)and
Magnesium (Mg) causes the permanent hardness of under processed
water. Thishardness can not be removed by heating.
Treatment Methods:
The treatment of water can be done by the following
methods:
1.Lime Soda Method
2 .Zeolite Method Ion Ex ch ange Method Ion Exchange Method

3.Demin Process
4 . R e v e r s e O s m o s i s Zeolite method is used in the Miniature Plant
for the treatment of water

Zeolite Method:
This method is a type of Ion Exchange Method. In this method
softening material mostly used is called resins.
Formula of Zeolite is as under:
Zeolite: Na2O3.Al2O3.2SiO2.H2O
The reactions taking place in the Sodium Zeolite chamber is as under:
Ca(HCO3) + Na2Ze CaZe + 2NaHCO3
MgCl2 + Na2Ze MgZe+ 2 NaCl
After the reaction Sodium Zeolite (NaZe) is regenerated due to
following reactions:
CaZe + 2NaCl Na2Ze + CaCl2
MgZe + 2NaCl Na2Ze + MgCl2

Condensative Recovery:
It is a good energy conservation method whichimproves the
system efficiency and reduces the fuel and water cost. A condensate
recovery system returns condensed steam to the boiler to become a
portion steam tothe boiler of the feed water supply. The rest of the feed
water supply comes frommake up water replaces water loss through
blow down. High quality water containingfew minerals and treated with
chemicals thus condensate requires less treatment thanraw make up
water to make it pure to use it as feed water. In this way energy is saved
through this process.
Blow Down:
As the boiler generates steam, the condensation method that improves
system of minerals and treatment chemicals that remain in the boiler
water increases large amount of minerals which cause corrosion, boiler
tube blockage and scaling.It is actually a process which water is
removed todecrease the concentration of salts. It is mainly of two types:
1.Periodic Blow down
2.Continuous Blow down
Periodic blow down of a boiler involves opening the main blow of
valve regularly usually when steam demand is low and when the solid
concentration is so high.
Continuous blow down removes a small amount of water from a
boiler continuously. Water drains through a pipe beneath the water
surface where the levelsof impurities are highest. This type of blow
down is used in most of the plants. Itmakes a uniform level of solids in
the under processed water.
Boiler Efficiency:
The main factors that reduce the efficiency of boiler are thegreatest
loss of heat in boiler operation. There are two causes of abnormal stack
losswhish are as under:
1 .Ex cess Air in Co mb ustion Area
2 .High ex it temp eratu re of Flue Gases
Every fuel requires some excess air to burn completely. High
flue gas exittemperature reduces the efficiency of boiler because the heat
released through thestack is wasted heat. Economizer and air pre-heater
can recover some of the heat toimprove its efficiency and it also lowers
fuel cost. Radiation loss is the heat loss fromthe boiler and high
temperature piping through radiation to the surrounding air.
Use of Steam:
Steam is of two types:
1 .Satu rated Stea m(Hea ting p u rpo se)
2 .Sup erheated Steam(tu rbin e op eration )
Steam is mainly used in the power generation purposes.Superheated
steam carries vapors in it. Thats why it is used to runTurbines

3.Cooling Tower Section:

Definition:
A mechanical arrangement assembling together the main
componentssuch as louvers, drift elimination fan etc. dims to cool the
hot returned processedwater is referred as cooling tower.In cooling
tower 80% cooling is done due to evaporation whereas the20% is due to
temperature difference between hot water
Evaporation:
Cooling occurs in the tower by the mechanisms of evaporative
cooling and exchange of sensible heat. The loss of heat by evaporation
lowers the remaining water temperature. The smaller amount of cooling
also occurs when remaining water transfer heat to the air.The rate of
evaporation is about 1.2% of the rate of flow of there circulating water
passing through the tower for every 10ft. decrease in water temperature
achieved by the tower. The decrease in temperature will vary with
theambient dew point temperature (DPT). Due to evaporation process 4-
5% water is shifted towards the air. In short evaporation causes cooling.

Main Components of Cooling Tower:

There are four major components which to make up a cooling
tower namely the Packing Drift elimination. Following are the
components of a cooling tower:
1.Shell or Casing
2.Air inlet and outlet
3 . F a n s
4.Drift Eliminator
5.Warm water Inlet
6.Water distribution system
7.Packing
8.Louvers
9.Cold Water Basin/Tank
10.Cold water outlet
Types of Cooling Tower:

There are three classification of Cooling Tower:

1.Spray Pond Cooling Tower
2.Natural Draft Cooling Tower
(A) Atmospheric Circulation Type
(B). Chimney Type Cooling Tower
3. Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower (
A). Forced Draft Cooling Tower
(B). Induced Draft Cooling Tower

1.Description of Cooling Towers:

Spray Pond Cooling Tower:

Hot returned processed water that has to be cooled is sprayed
through nozzles over the pond surface in Spray pond. Greater water to
air surfaces exposure is the main concept taken in consideration. Thus
evaporation rate enhances causing more water cooled in same unit
length of time. Prevailing wind indeed causes the rate of evaporation.
These spray pond cooling system are preferred either for small capacity
or where ground is inexpensive water loss and damage to nearby facility
may result through wind. The rate of evaporation is also decreased due
to air.
2.Natural Draft Cooling Tower:
(A). Atmospheric Circulation Type:
In the atmospheric circulation type, the circulation of air through
the tower is essentially across it in a horizontal direction. Some of the
wing entering the tower iscarried upward but most of the wind blows
straight through it.The lower help it directly and also prevent water loss
fromit. The hot air and water vapors leaving the top of the tower have to
pass through drift eliminators. The splash bars slow down the fall of
water and breaks it up into small drops.The large contact of water with
air causes quicker evaporation and faster cooling than in a spray pond.
Due to evaporation and drift there is some water loss which has to be
replaced by make upwater. In order to get maximum evaporation from a
cooling tower, the air should be provided in a large amount.
(B). Chimney Type Cooling Tower:
The chimney type coolingtower depends on the fact that air is
warmed by the water and therefore produces an upward draft. The top
part of the tower is known as chimneyor stack.The hot water is sprayed
in above the splash bars. Thesplash bars break the flowing water into
fine drops in order to provide better air to water for contact. Some of the
heat in water transfer to the air.As the air heats up it becomes lighter.
Due to this air rises in the chimney.The heated air is replaced with cold
air heat enters the tower through theair inlet. The temperature of the air
inside the chimney is very much higher than atmospheric temperature of
the air. This temperature difference causes a constant draft or flow
towards the exit point.
3. Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower:
Mechanical draft cooling tower use fans for air circulation. They are
usually called Forced Draft and Induced Draft cooling towers.
Induced tower pulls air towards through the fans. Forced draft tower
push air through it fans.Forced draft tower are usually limited to smaller
system due toneed of high power to run it.Induced draft is preferred
because it avoids return of saturated air back towards to the tower.
(A).Forced Draft Cooling Tower:
In Forced Draft CoolingTower the air flow through the falling water
is produced by fans. Motor driven fans force air into the tower through
openings near the bottom of the tower. The cooling of water in all
towers depends mainly on the amount and humidity of air passing
through it. Fans used in forced draft cooling tower should produce a
large volume of air with a low velocity.Mechanical draft cooling tower s
also provided with Drift Eliminator to air velocity. If one or more of the
fans is shutdown, the cooling rate will be slow due to the less air to
water contact. The degree of cooling tower can be adjusted by
controlling one or more of the fans and the rate of water flow.
(B).Induced Draft Cooling Tower:
In a forced draft coolingtower the fan push the air through the tower.
In this type of tower as the fans rotates it pulls the air through the
tower.The air is driven upward from the top of the tower where it can be
carried away easily by the powered air. This reduces the possibility
of water air re-entering the cooling tower at the bottom. There are types
of induced draft cooling tower.The tower with its sides open the cross
flow type and inthe counter flow type the target past of the tower or
solid sides. In a tower with solid sides the induced air travels most of the
time in an oppositedirection from falling water. In both these towers the
air volume flowingthrough the tower is controlled by the speed of the
fans and the amount of opening of side louvers.
Why We Use Water for Cooling:
The importance of water in industry is due to
its specific heat. Specific Heat is the measure of how well a substance
can absorb heat. Water is so good at absorbing heat as compared to all
other substances. It has a specific heat value which is 1.0. We
willcompare it with Methanol which has specific heat value 0.39 which
is very less as compared to the value of water. Outstanding ability to
absorb andrelease heat of water through evaporation makes it an ideal
for the use inIndustries for cooling. Water is used in industries due to the
followingreasons:
1.Plentiful
2.Readily available
3.Inexpensive
4.Easy Handling
5.It can carry heat
6.Does not decompose.

Packing of Cooling Tower:

Timber was the traditional material which was used for
packing but now it is usually packed with plastics notably PVC. This
packing has the following advantages:
1.Easily removable
2 .In ert in an y water wh eth er acid ic o r alk alin e
3.Scale growth Inhibitor
4.Non-flammable
Conditions affecting the Cooling Tower:
The most important factor in any type
of cooling tower is how fast the water is being evaporated by the
tower.Therefore any condition which prevents water from evaporating
reduces the efficiency of cooling tower. If the air surrounding a cooling
tower is very humid, the water in the tower does not evaporate as much
as it would if the air is dry.In damp humid days a cooling tower works
not as well as it worksin usually dry season. A factor that affects the rate
of evaporation is the amount of humidity or moisture in the air in contact
with the water.

4. Instrument Air Compressing Section:

Definition:
The Instrument air compressor is the fourth important part of the
Miniature Plant. The basic work of an air compressor is to deliver air at
a maximum pressure
Diagram:
Function of Air Compressor:
The function of compressor is to provide air at the pressure required
for various plant applications. In many plants compressed air is used as a
power source. Some typical uses of compressed air are as under:
1 .To p rov id e po wer fo r p neumatic in stru me n ts.
2 .To p rov id e air fo r b reathin g app aratus.
3 .To p rov id e air fo r pn eu matic contro l.
In reciprocating air compressor the air is compressed by themovement of
a piston inside a cylinder. Air enters the cylinder through a suctionvalve
that is designed to allow air to flow in only one direction.This section
increases the pressure of the air. Compression takes place in the
cylinder. The compressed air leaves the cylinder through a
dischargevalve. This valve is also designed to permit air to flow in only
one direction out of thecylinder. The power required to move the piston
is usually supplied by a motor. The motor moves a crank shaft. There are
two types of reciprocating air compressor:
1.Single Acting Compressor
2.Double Acting Compressor

1. Single Acting Compressor:

In a single acting compressor the compression occurs only during
the forward stroke of the piston. This is called compression stroke. The
backward stroke of the piston is called the suction stroke.During this
stroke the piston moves back and air is drawn in through the
suctionvalve. After this stroke the valve is closed and the piston moves
forward to start anew compression stroke. As the air is compressed its
pressure increases and causesthe air to be forced out of the cylinder
through discharge valve.
2. Double Acting Compressor:
In this type of compressor the compression occurs during the
forward stroke and backward stroke of the piston. This is accomplished
by having suction and discharging valves on each end of the cylinder.
During the forward stroke of the piston air is compressed on one end
of the cylinder, while suction occurs on the other. During the backward
stroke these actions are reversed. As a result compression takes place
during each stroke.

Components of the Compressor:

Several components in a compressor areused to clean, dry and
store the compressed air. There are some components which are mostly
used in the compressor:
Intake Filter:
This filter removes dirt from the air before it entersthe compressor.
Dirty air can result in rapid valve wear and cylinder wear.
After Cooler:
Compression causes the air to get very hot. The air after cooler
cools the compressed air. Most after coolers are hotexchangers. They
contain a network of tubes that have cold water circulating through
them. As the hot compressed air flows around thetubes it is cooled by
these tubes having cool water.
Moisture Separator:
This component removes moisture that condenses after the
compressed air has cooled. Moisture separator s usually has manual
or automatic drain traps to remove the collected moisture from
thecompressor.
Loading and Unloading System:
The unloading system is a series of valves and switches that reacts
to feed back from control point. The unloading system
controls compressor output by causing compressor operation to switch
between two states loading and unloading. When a compressor is
loading compression takes place.Air enters the cylinder is compressed
and sent to receive. While a compressor is loading pressure in the
receiver rises. Compression of air also takes place when process of un-
loading occurs.
5. Piping Model:
In a Chemical Plant piping has been installed for thetransfer of fluid
from one equipment to the other. Following are the different parts of a
piping model
Piping Diagram:

Valves:
Valves are the devices used to control the rate of flow of fluids in a
pipeline. Several valves are provided in the piping model valves are
classified as given below:

Gate Valve:
Gate valves are mostly used in plants. These valves are used to cut
the flow of liquids or to control its flow rate. In a gatevalve diameter of
the opening through which the fluid passes is nearly thesame as that of
pipe. These valves are usually used to complete cut of the pipeline
liquid. The other end of the stem extends through the stuffing boxin the
valve bonnets connects to the hand wheel. In a rising stem, gatevalve is
not connected with the stem directly to its wheel. Instead of the stem is
threaded through a fitting called stem bashing. In a non-rising stemgate
valve the stem is directly attached to the hand wheel.

Globe Valve:
So called because in the earliest design the body of the valve was
spherical. The globe valve is mainly used for flow rate control.
Theopening increases almost linearly with stem position and wear
distributed around the disc. The fluid passes through a restricted opening
and changes direction several times. As a result the pressure drop in this
kind of valveis large.
Check Valves:
Check valves are used when unidirectional flow is desired.They are
automatic in operation. It is opened by the pressure of the fluid inthe
desired direction, automatically closes by gravity or by a spring pressing
against a disk. Common types of check valves are:
1.Lift Check
2.Swing Check