Process Design Engineering Course from Zero to Hero

Course overview

The Process Design Engineering, Equipment Sizing & Safety Masterclass is built to give you a complete picture of the process design workflow. You learn how the activities connect inside a project, and you gain the practical skills to handle complex projects with confidence.

It starts with the process design basis and process simulation, then moves through the PFD, the P&ID and the sizing activities. For each activity we cover the considerations behind a proper design and how the activity affects the whole project.

Along the way you explore the role of a process engineer across the project lifecycle, master process simulation techniques and learn to read P&IDs effectively. Safety is part of every step, including HAZOP and SIL assessments, so you can design processes that are safe and environmentally sound.

You also build equipment sizing skills for pipes, pumps, control valves, compressors, separators, heat exchangers and pressure relief devices.

What this masterclass gives you

• Explore the process engineering career. See the real life of a process engineer and how process engineering activities work.
• Start your career with confidence. By the end of the course you can take your career to the next level and apply to jobs or perform your engineering tasks with confidence.
• Access to the current process engineering courses. You also get access to the 8 courses already on the platform, so you can go deeper on each activity.

What is included in the course

• Process engineer’s role in a project, focusing on the documents prepared and the engagement with other engineering disciplines such as piping, mechanical and instrumentation engineers.
• Process design basis example walkthrough: the first and most important document in any project, covered clause by clause through a live document.
• Process simulation with HYSYS examples, PFD walkthrough and how they affect downstream sizing activities.
• P&ID course: not just a P&ID walkthrough but also preparation, operational and safety common practices with examples, through a detailed review checklist.
• HAZOP & SIL (LOPA) methodologies, with examples on how to apply HAZOP and evaluate layers of protection on a real P&ID to determine the proper SIL rating.
• Pipe sizing course: not just equations, but which criteria to use and how they affect plant operation, with extensive examples for gas, liquid and two-phase lines, and the effect on the hydraulics of reboilers and condensers.
• PSV sizing course: detailed analysis of the relief scenarios (fire, blockage, reflux failure, control valve failure and others), with extensive HYSYS sizing examples from P&ID analysis up to PSV orifice designation and type selection using API 520, 521 and 526.
• Vessel and separator sizing course: sizing concepts and criteria for vertical separators and horizontal two-phase and three-phase separators, with extensive examples from input process data up to an optimized design.
• HTRI thermal design of shell and tube exchangers, with extensive examples from process data up to an optimized design.
• FLARENET: flare network calculation using Aspen Flare System Analyzer.
• Compressors course for process engineers, including HYSYS modelling, dynamic simulation for surge analysis, compressor types and control loops.
• Depressuring calculations using the HYSYS blowdown utility, and how to determine the relief load and the minimum design metal temperature (MDMT) and their effect on flare system sizing and equipment materials.
• Pump hydraulics course showing the pump sizing procedure with detailed calculation examples, performance curves and their effect on the process design workflow and plant operation.
• Control valves course: sizing, characteristics and hydraulic calculation for pressure drop specification and valve Cv, with calculation examples.
• Calculating design pressure and temperature: blocked discharge, exchanger tube rupture, cooler maloperation and MDMT, calculated not guessed.
• Project workflow from conceptual design to startup: how the activities interconnect, the relationship between the engineering company and the client, and the information needed to start process design.
• Cause and effect walkthrough: read a full C&E template, then apply interlocks to a real case.
• Distillation column and tower tray sizing with examples using Aspen HYSYS.
• Equipment datasheets walkthrough for PSVs, vessels, columns and exchangers, along with vessel and tower sketches.
• The role of utilities (steam, cooling water, instrument air, nitrogen and others) in a project, with examples analysing utility consumption in a plant.
• Detailed calculation sheets similar to the ones used by engineering companies.
• Practical quizzes.
• Edited videos for a better learning experience.

Topics covered

• Introduction to process design and the role of a process engineer
• Project workflow: from conceptual design to startup
• The relationship between the plant owner and the engineering company, and the importance of determining the project scope
• The information we need to start a project and the output a client expects from the engineering company
• Interactions between a process engineer and other disciplines such as piping, instrumentation and mechanical engineers
• An example process design basis, showing the data on which the process design is carried out
• An example process simulation, showing its impact on the whole plant design and the equipment sizing
• An example process flow diagram (PFD)
• The role of the sizing activities, and how they affect and are affected by other activities
• Overview examples of HTRI thermal design, tower sizing, PSV sizing and vessel sizing using Aspen HYSYS
• Equipment sizing: pipes, pumps, control valves, compressors, shell and tube exchangers, separators and pressure relief devices and systems (7 separate courses in addition to the P&ID course)
• Interpreting P&IDs and applying operational and safety guidelines (part of the P&ID course)
• Safety considerations: HAZOP and SIL assessments (part of the P&ID course)
• Best practices for equipment maintenance (part of the P&ID course)

By the end of this course

By the end of this course, you can start or continue your process engineering career confidently. This is because we go through the main activities carried out by a process engineer, the common practices and sizing criteria, the main issues and how to solve them. All of it with real-world examples.

Want to know more? Look through the curriculum below. The lessons marked Free preview can be watched before you enrol.

Download the syllabus

Download the full syllabus (PDF) – the same lesson list as a printable document.