What is Process Design Engineering?
Process design engineering is the application of chemical, mechanical, petroleum, gas and other engineering disciplines to the process-related development, planning, designs, and decisions required for economical and effective completion of a process project.
An engineering project generally involves closely coordinated efforts of a multi-disciplinary team. Hence in addition to technical skills, a process engineer should demonstrate a wide range of abilities including team-work and effective communication skills.
Engineering contractor organizations often have a dedicated team of process engineers under a specific department. This department, called as Process department, often receives direct client inputs and are responsible for developing a blueprint for the engineering project. Clearly, a process engineer should be able to understand and comprehend the overall process flow of the plant and have proficiency in interpreting the process to fulfill the process requirements with the help of different process equipment.
The following article addresses all questions faced by a young process engineer or a freshly graduated chemical engineer who wants to explore the field of process engineering.
Hurdle of Success
After completing an engineering degree, it’s essential to add practical/industrial skill set, proficiency in Microsoft office and good communication skills to increase chances of being shortlisted for industry recruitment.
After completing an engineering degree, it’s essential to add practical/industrial skillset, proficiency in Microsoft office and good communication skills to increase chances of being shortlisted for industry recruitment.
What does a process engineer do?
A process engineer typically has the following duties and responsibilities:
- Preparation of Heat and Material Balance for a proposed process.
- Preparing a rough estimate of cost by preliminary sizing and firming important details of an equipment
- Preparation of finalized and detailed Heat and Material Balance
- Conducting a detailed sizing of all important process equipment and some utility systems
- Preparation/supervision of Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs)
- Preparation/supervision preparation of Piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID), with necessary preliminary sizing of all pipelines, distillation equipment, pumps, compressors, and so on, and representation of all instrumentation for detailing by instrument engineers.
- Preparing mechanical and process specifications for all equipment, tanks, pumps, compressors, separators, drying systems, and refrigeration systems.
- Determination of size and specifications for all safety relief valves and/or rupture disks for process safety relief devices
- Preparation of line lists, fluids list and electrical load sheets
- Preparing detailed process and mechanical specifications for developing proposals for purchase by the purchasing department
- Participation in process hazard review meetings (Eg HAZOPs)
Design Engineering Process:
The engineering design process involve various stages to ensure safe, accurate and economic design.
Career Options Process Design Engineering:
- Technical Services
- Basic Engineering
- Detail Engineering
- Process Safety
- Technology Licensor
- Equipment Vendor
- Project Engineering.
Areas to work:
- Oil and gas
- Refinery
- Petrochemical
- Chemical
- Pharmaceuticals
- Fertilizers and Specialty Chemicals
Salary of an process engineer:
Process engineers earn a respectable income with average salaries reported at Rs 1,50,000* to 4,50,000 per annul (*Source payscale.com). This figure varies significantly as a process engineer matures with experience. Many process engineers find suitable job positions abroad depending on the market situation and influx of projects.
Hierarchy in Positions:
- Jr. Process Engineer/ Trainee
- Sr. Process Engineer
- Lead Process Engineer
- Lead Process Engineer
- Principal Engineer
- Department Head