Computer Aided Process Equipment Design (CAPED)
Final Report on the Project
Submitted to
Raw Materials Research and Development Council,
Plot 427, Aguiyi-Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja.
Prof A. O. Kuye Chairman
Dr. D. B. Ayo Member
Prof K. O. Okpala Member
Dr T. O. Folami Member
Prof F. O. Chukwuma Member
Prof A. S. Ahmed Member
Dr S.N Mumah Member
December 11, 2017
Introduction
A significant number of process equipment used in small and medium scale industries in Nigeria are largely fabricated by road-side artisans or semi-skilled craftsmen with very little knowledge of equipment design. Such equipment when in service are either not effective or grossly inefficient.
It has therefore become very essential that design and manufacturing of process equipment be undertaken by those with the skill and training to do so. In recent times, Computer Aided Design (CAD) has made the design of processes and equipment easier. Powerful and comprehensive process simulators are available in the industrialized world to accurately model any process from single unit to a complete process plant. In less developed countries these simulation softwares are usually unaffordable by entrepreneurs who may desire to use them. In a country like Nigeria, the situation is compounded by high inflation and unstable economy. It has, therefore become very necessary and timely to develop such software locally by harnessing indigenous technical expertise from tertiary institutions and the Research and Development sector of the nation’s establishments.
It was in this regard that the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) on 4thMarch,2004, constituted a Computer Aided Process Equipment Design (CAPED) team to develop simulation packages based on the experience of the Council. The team was expected to come up with equipment design software with emphasis on those equipment used in small and medium scale industries. So far, software modules have been developed for three equipment, namely; gas cyclone, hydro cyclone and spray dryer.
GAS CYCLONE
Gas cyclone can be used in three principal areas, namely classification, gas cleaning and product recovery duties. In all these cases, the important parameters that are generally used to evaluate cyclone performance are emission concentrations, collection efficiency as a function of particle size and pressure drop (energy consumption) as a function of inlet velocity. Although the operation of a gas cyclone is relatively simple, it is however not completely understood, partly as a result of the complicated flow pattern within the cyclone. Despite extensive work in literature on how the cyclone dimensions and its operating conditions affect its performance, current design practice is based partly on theory and partly on empirical models. The design philosophy adopted by the team is based on a standard cyclone, which is the cyclone that has the proper geometric relationship between the cyclone diameter, inlet area, vortex finder, apex orifice and sufficient length that provides adequate retention time for particle classification. By selecting a standard design, a meaningful scale-up can be performed which leads to reasonably reliable design. There is a choice of several standard or optimum designs that have been developed and tested by different researchers as well as some well-documented commercial cyclones.
The team has critically reviewed literature on the subject and has developed and tested a software. The software produced is modular in design, interactive and user friendly and can be extended to handle dust-laden gases. Design information, cyclone configurations and profiles are captured in the database with facility for updating as new information is gathered. Various test runs provide confidence that the outputs of the software can be used as specification data for fabrication of an intended cyclone.
It is noteworthy that the software has been successfully used in the design and fabrication of a gas cyclone for the flash dryer at Godilogo Farms at Obudu, Cross River State.
HYDROCYCLONES
A hydro-cyclone is a device where solid particles or immiscible liquids are separated from water. Separation is based on density difference between the water and the matter to be separated. A hydrocyclone utilizes centrifugal force to accelerate the settling rate of particle. It is one of the most important devices in the mineral processing industry. Hydrocyclones are versatile, simple, and relatively cheap. They are widely used in closed-circuit grinding operations, clarification of slurry, classification of solid and separation of two immiscible liquids.
A software has been developed and has been tested with some examples taken from literature as well as data from Laboratory scale Hydrocyclone at National Metallurgical Development Centre Jos. Generally, there was good agreement between the software output and the corresponding literature and experimental values.
SPRAY DRYER
The growing importance in spray drying is abundantly evident from the ever increasing number of industrial application. In spite of the impressive developments, the design of spray dryers has remained widely empirical. Extensive research work has continued to gain momentum. This is geared towards gaining deeper knowledge of the drying phenomena and helping in the design of more efficient equipment.
The team had reviewed literature on the subject critically and has developed and tested a user-friendly software. The software developed has been tested with some examples taken from literature. Analysis of particle size distribution of materials was carried out at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Generally there was good agreement between the software output and the corresponding literature and experimental values.
PROJECT OUTPUT TO DATE
The output of the project (soft and hard copies) includes:
- Project Report:
- Gas Cyclone
- Hydrocyclone
- Spray dryer
- Publications
- Monographs
- Design of Hydrocyclone(2006): Kuye, A.O., D.B. Ayo, K.O. Okpala, T.O. Folami, F.O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S.N. Mumah: published by the Raw Materials Research Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja.
- Design of Air Cyclone(2008): Kuye, A.O., D.B. Ayo, K.O. Okpala, T.O. Folami, F.O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S.N. Mumah: published by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja.
- Design of Spray Dryer(2010): Kuye, A.O., D.B. Ayo, K.O. Okpala, T.O. Folami, F.O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S.N. Mumah, Published by the Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) Abuja.
- Journals articles
- Monographs
- Kuye, A.O., D.B. Ayo, K.O. Okpala, T.OFolami, F.O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S.N. Mumah, I.I. Ismail, C. Hamilton, I.O. Ejuya, U.M. Mansur (2006): A Review of Spray Dryer Design, Nigerian Drying Symposium Series, 2, 35-46
- Kuye, A.O., D.B. Ayo, K.O. Okpala, T.O. Folami, F.O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S.N. Mumah, I.I. Ismail, I.O. Ejuya, U.M. Mansur(2006): Computer Aided Design of Hydrocyclones, Technical Transaction on Software Engineering, 1, 79-89
- Kuye, A.O., D.B. Ayo, K.O. Okpala, T.O. Folami, F.O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S.N. Mumah, I.I. Ismail, C. Hamilton, I.O. Ejuya, U.M. Mansur(2006): Design of air Cyclones: Part 1- A Review of Applicable Models: Journal of Raw Materials Research Vol 3, No. 2. Pg 104-117
- Kuye A.O, D. B. Ayo, K.O.Okpala, T.O. Folami, F.O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S.N. Mumah, I.I. Ismail, I.O. Ejuya and A.A Ahmed, March (2011): Computer Aided Process Equipment Design Software, Process Equipment & Plant Magazine, 1(1), 50-52.
- Kuye A. O, D. B. Ayo, K. O. Okpala, T. O. Folami, F. O. Chukwuma, A.S. Ahmed, S. N. Mumah, I.I. Ismail, M.O. Ayoola, C. Hamilton, A. I. Okereke, I. O. Ejuya, and U. M. Mansur (2011): “Design of Air Cyclones: Part II – Software Development Journal of Raw Materials Research, 6(1), 62-72.
III Industrial application:
- The CAPED software was used to design gas cyclone of Flash Dryer installed at the Godilogo Farms in Cross River State.
IV Exhibitions
a) RMRDC Techno Expo (2004 and 2006)
b) National Science & Technology Exhibition (2005)
V. Process Equipment Design Software Suite (beta version) comprising the following modules:
a. Gas Cyclone
b. Hydrocyclone
c. Spray Dryer
VI Master’s Thesis
a) Menta, V. Ali. (ABU) – Performance evaluation of hydro-cyclone purification of kaolin using computer simulation.
b) Enujekwu, F. M. (Uniport) – Optimization Of Cyclone Design Parameters Using Java In Netbeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
c) Odediran, E. T. (Unilag) – Computer-aided design of circular clarifiers
Way Forward
The CAPED project has great potential to transform process equipment development industry in Nigeria. As such we believe it should be sustained. Our proposed model for sustainability are:
a) RMRDC should distribute the beta version of the software to Universities for evaluation. The feedback obtained can then be used to update the software. Also RMRDC should look at the possibility of patenting the work done so far. and thereafter explore its commercialization.
b) To make it a community based open source software development project with multi-disciplinary stakeholders such as the academia, industry and professional societies. As a group we have started talking with Nigeria Society of Chemical Engineers.
The model will bring on board various relevant academic institutions. To encourage participation, an online journal dedicated to computer-aided equipment design will be floated. The current CAPED Team will serve as the editors as well as manage the community of contributors. In addition, in collaboration with appropriate stakeholders, we will organize a biennial conference on computer-aided process equipment design. We invite RMRDC to partner with us and other stakeholders to actualize this vision.
Conclusions
The Team has achieved the set goals. A software for designing cyclone, hydrocyclone and spray dryer has been developed and validated. Also, a number of reports, monographs and journal publications were produced with some of them peer reviewed by other experts.
Acknowledgement
We want to thank the management of RMRDC for the opportunity to contribute to process equipment design in Nigeria thereby contributing to national development. We also want to thank the entire technical and secretarial staff of IPED at various times for the support given to the Team.
Thank you
