Process ow diagram
A process ow diagram (PFD) is a diagram commonly
Operational data (temperature, pressure, mass ow
used in chemical and process engineering to indicate the
rate, density, etc.), often by stream references to a
general ow of plant processes and equipment. The PFD
mass balance.
displays the relationship between major equipment of a
Process stream names
plant facility and does not show minor details such as piping details and designations. Another commonly used
term for a PFD is a owsheet.
Process ow diagrams generally do not include:
Pipe classes or piping line numbers
Typical content of a process ow
diagram
Process control instrumentation (sensors and nal
elements)
Minor bypass lines
Isolation and shuto valves
Maintenance vents and drains
Relief and safety valves
Flanges
Process ow diagrams of multiple process units within a
large industrial plant will usually contain less detail and
may be called block ow diagrams or schematic ow diagrams.
2 Process ow diagram examples
The process ow diagram below depicts a single chemical engineering unit process known as an amine treating
plant:
2.1 Multiple process units within an industrial plant
Some typical elements from process ow diagrams, as provided
by the open source program, Dia. Click for image legend.
The process ow diagram below is an example of a
Typically, process ow diagrams of a single unit process schematic or block ow diagram and depicts the various
unit processes within a typical oil renery:
will include the following:
Process piping
3 Other items of interest
Major equipment items
Control valves and other major valves
A PFD can be computer generated from process simulators (see List of Chemical Process Simulators), CAD
packages, or ow chart software using a library of chemical engineering symbols. Rules and symbols are available
Connections with other systems
Major bypass and recirculation streams
1
EXTERNAL LINKS
4 Standards
ISO 10628: Flow Diagrams For Process Plants General Rules
ANSI Y32.11: Graphical Symbols For Process
Flow Diagrams (withdrawn 2003)
SAA AS 1109: Graphical Symbols For Process
Flow Diagrams For The Food Industry
5 See also
Hazop
Flow diagram of a typical amine treating process used in industrial plants
Piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID)
6 Further reading
Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer (2001).
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
(4th ed.). Wiley-Interscience. ISBN 0471419613.
M.S. Ray and M.G. Sneesby (1998). Chemical Engineering Design Project: A Case Study Approach (2nd
ed.). Gordan and Breach Science Publishers. ISBN
9056991361.
R. Turton, R.C. Bailie, W.B. Whiting and J.S.
Shaeiwitz (2002). Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of
Chemical Processes (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN
0-13-064792-6.
Fritz Ullmann (2002). Ullmans Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry (6th ed.). Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3527-30385-5.
Srikumar Koyikkal (2013). Chemical Process Technology and Simulation (1st ed.). Prentice Hall India.
ISBN 978-81-203-4709-0.
7 External links
A typical oil renery-SL
Process Flow Sheet
The PFD at The Engineering Tool Box
from standardization organizations such as DIN, ISO or
ANSI. Often PFDs are produced on large sheets of paper.
PFDs of many commercial processes can be found in the
literature, specically in encyclopedias of chemical technology, although some might be outdated. To nd recent
ones, patent databases such as those available from the
United States Patent and Trademark Oce can be useful.
Simplied process owsheets and ow diagrams of
process industries. Development of new integration
methods and model ow diagrams.
Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
8.1
Text
Process ow diagram Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_flow_diagram?oldid=711334177 Contributors: Jdpipe, Andreas
Kaufmann, Mdd, Norro, BD2412, Dirkbike, Leeannedy, SmackBot, Chris the speller, Andrew c, Mbeychok, RHB, Atlien, Dgw, Gproud,
RichardVeryard, Emitozzi, Thermbal, Bhanks, Hermann Luyken, Blood Oath Bot, Bitjungle, Eubulides, Jojalozzo, Addbot, MrOllie,
, TaBOT-zerem, Legobot II, KamikazeBot, Rubinbot, Daniele Pugliesi, Materialscientist, Citation bot, Coretheapple, Rickproser,
Con-struct, FrescoBot, Mean as custard, ZroBot, CocuBot, Madeupwithit, MerlIwBot, BG19bot, Ele boz, BattyBot, Dirk Kossmann,
Michipedian, YiFeiBot, Enggyd, Mela widiawati, Miriam-Mueller and Anonymous: 39
8.2
Images
File:AmineTreating.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/AmineTreating.png License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
Contributors: No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). Original artist: No machine-readable
author provided. Mbeychok assumed (based on copyright claims).
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Pfd-symbols.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Pfd-symbols.png License: GPL Contributors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pfd-symbols.png Original artist: en:User:Jdpipe
File:RefineryFlow.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/RefineryFlow.png License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
8.3
Content license
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
