Industries

Where the correlations apply.

Class 5 coverage is exactly the set of published process types in the library, listed at the foot of this page from the records themselves. Class 4 and Class 3 apply wherever the equipment can be sized: the equipment correlations are by type — exchangers, vessels, columns, pumps, compressors, fired heaters, tanks and so on — not by industry.

Read the basis

The Class 5 records come from two cited tables with two bases: one set at a 2000 basis covering fixed-capital investment for an addition to an existing site, one set at a January 2006 US Gulf Coast basis covering ISBL only. Each record carries its own basis, and the engine escalates from it. Escalating that far by a cost index alone ignores real-terms change in plant construction cost, so Class 5 totals are indicative — the validation note says so and shows the back-test.

Refining

Refinery process units in the list include crude distillation, vacuum distillation, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, hydrotreating, catalytic reforming, isomerization, alkylation, coking, visbreaking, dewaxing and gasoline desulfurization, mostly on a barrels-per-day or cubic-metres-per-day basis. A refinery revamp at Class 4 is a sized equipment list like any other; the library’s fired-heater, exchanger, column, vessel, pump and compressor correlations do the pricing.

Petrochemicals and polymers

Olefins by several cracker feeds, propylene by dehydrogenation and metathesis, butadiene, aromatics extraction and xylene isomers, styrene, ethylbenzene, cumene, phenol, and a range of polymers — polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PET, polycarbonate, ABS — appear as published process types. Most are on a million-pounds-per-year basis, and a capacity is entered in the record’s own unit; a unit mismatch is refused, not converted silently.

Chemicals

Acids (acetic, adipic, sulfuric, nitric, phosphoric, hydrofluoric, terephthalic), oxides and glycols, formaldehyde, chlorine, vinyl acetate, caprolactam, maleic and phthalic anhydride, alcohols and a set of specialty intermediates are in the list. Where a chemical is not, the Class 4 path still applies once the flowsheet is sized.

Gas processing

Gas sweetening, hydrogen and carbon monoxide by steam methane reforming, gas-to-liquids and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis are the published gas-side process types, on a standard-cubic-feet basis where the source states one. Compressors, drives and fans are priced at Class 4 by their own correlations, split by subtype as the source prints them.

Hydrogen, ammonia, methanol

Hydrogen by steam methane reforming, ammonia by steam reforming, methanol by steam reforming and synthesis, urea and ammonium nitrate are published process types. The live example on the home page runs the engine on the ammonia record; the hydrogen case in the back-test is a published US government study recomputed in Class 5 mode.

Published process types

Rendered at build time from every unit-capacity record in the library, grouped by the source it cites. If a process type is not in this list, the Class 5 mode does not cover it: size the equipment and estimate at Class 4, or bring your own history for it into the knowledge base.

28 process types — Peters, Timmerhaus & West, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers, 5th ed. (2003)

Acetic acid — CH3OH and CO — catalytic
Acetone — Propylene-copper chloride catalyst
Alkylation (H2SO4) — Catalytic
Ammonia — Steam reforming
Ammonium nitrate — Ammonia and nitric acid
Butanol — Propylene, CO, and H2O — catalytic
Chlorine — Electrolysis of NaCl
Coking (delayed) — Thermal
Coking (fluid) — Thermal
Cracking — Thermal
Cracking (fluid) — Catalytic
Distillation (atm.) — 65% vaporized
Distillation (vac.) — 65% vaporized
Ethylene — Refinery gases
Ethylene oxide — Ethylene — catalytic
Formaldehyde (37%) — Methanol — catalytic
Glycol — Ethylene and chlorine
Hydrofluoric acid — Hydrogen fluoride and H2O
Hydrotreating — Catalytic desulfurization
Methanol — CO2, natural gas, and steam
Nitric acid (high-strength) — Ammonia — catalytic
Phosphoric acid — Calcium phosphate and H2SO4
Polyethylene (high-density) — Ethylene — catalytic
Polymerization — Catalytic
Propylene — Refinery gases
Reforming — Catalytic
Sulfuric acid — Sulfur — contact catalytic
Urea — Ammonia and CO2

100 process types — Towler & Sinnott, Chemical Engineering Design, 3rd ed. (2022)

2,6-Dimethylnaphthalene by MeOH alkylation — Exxon Mobil/Kobe [T&S ISBL 2006]
ABS resin (15% rubber) by emulsion polymerization — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Acetic acid by Cativa process — BP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Acetic acid by low water methanol carbonylation — Celanese [T&S ISBL 2006]
Acrolein by propylene oxidation with Bi/Mo catalyst — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Adipic acid from phenol — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Alkylation (HF process) — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Alkylation (sulfuric acid effluent refrigeration process) — Stratco/DuPont [T&S ISBL 2006]
Allyl chloride by propylene chlorination — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Alpha olefins (full range process) — Chevron Phillips [T&S ISBL 2006]
Alpha olefins (full range process) — Shell [T&S ISBL 2006]
Benzene by sulfolane extraction — UOP/Shell [T&S ISBL 2006]
Benzene by toluene hydrodealkylation — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Benzene reduction by Bensat process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Biodiesel (FAME) from vegetable oil — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
bis-HET by Eastman glycolysis — Eastman [T&S ISBL 2006]
BTX aromatics by CCR Platforming process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
BTX aromatics by Cyclar process — BP/UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Butadiene by extractive distillation — UOP/BASF [T&S ISBL 2006]
Butadiene by Oxo-D plus extractive distillation — Texas Petrochem. [T&S ISBL 2006]
Butene-1 by alphabutol ethylene dimerization — Axens [T&S ISBL 2006]
Butene-1 by BP Process — BP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Caprolactam from nitration-grade toluene — SNIA BPD S.p.A. [T&S ISBL 2006]
Carbon monoxide by steam methane reforming — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Catalytic condensation for gasoline production — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Catalytic reforming by CCR Platforming process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Coking by Flexicoking, including fluid coking — ExxonMobil [T&S ISBL 2006]
Coking by selective yield delayed coking — Foster Wheeler/UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Copolymer polypropylene by BORSTAR — Borealis [T&S ISBL 2006]
Copolymer polypropylene by INNOVENE — BP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Copolymer polypropylene by SPHERIPOL Bulk — Basell [T&S ISBL 2006]
Copolymer polypropylene by Unipol — Dow [T&S ISBL 2006]
Crude distillation by D2000 — TOTAL/Technip [T&S ISBL 2006]
Cumene by Q-Max process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Cyclic olefin copolymer by Mitsui process — Mitsui [T&S ISBL 2006]
Cyclohexane by liquid-phase hydrogenation of benzene — Axens [T&S ISBL 2006]
Dewaxing by ISODEWAXING — Chevron Lummus [T&S ISBL 2006]
Dimethyl terephthalate by Huels oxidation — Huels [T&S ISBL 2006]
Dimethyl terephthalate by methanolysis — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethanol (fuel grade) by corn dry milling — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethanol by ethylene hydration — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethylbenzene by EBOne process — ABB Lummus/UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethylene by ethane cracking — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethylene by ethane/propane cracker — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethylene by gas oil cracker — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethylene by UOP/Hydro MTO process — UOP/INEOS [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethylene glycol via ethylene oxide hydrolysis — Shell [T&S ISBL 2006]
Ethylene: light naphtha cracker (max ethylene) — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Expandable polystyrene by suspension process — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Fischer Tropsch process — ExxonMobil [T&S ISBL 2006]
Fluid catalytic cracking — KBR [T&S ISBL 2006]
Fluid catalytic cracking with power recovery — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Gas sweetening by Amine Guard FS process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Gas to liquids by Syntroleum process — Syntroleum [T&S ISBL 2006]
Gasification by GE gasification process, Maya crude — GE Energy [T&S ISBL 2006]
Gasoline desulfurization, ultra-deep by Prime-G+ — Axens [T&S ISBL 2006]
Glucose (40% solution) by basic wet corn milling — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
HDPE pellets by BP gas phase process — BP Amoco [T&S ISBL 2006]
HDPE pellets by Phillips slurry process — Phillips [T&S ISBL 2006]
HDPE pellets by Zeigler slurry process — Zeigler [T&S ISBL 2006]
High-impact polystyrene by bulk polymerization — Dow [T&S ISBL 2006]
Hydrocracking — Axens [T&S ISBL 2006]
Hydrocracking by isocracking — Chevron Lummus [T&S ISBL 2006]
Hydrocracking by unicracking (distillate) process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Hydrogen by steam methane reforming — Foster Wheeler [T&S ISBL 2006]
Hydrotreating by Unionfining process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Isomerization by once-through Penex process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Isomerization by Penex-Molex process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Isophthalic acid by m-xylene oxidation — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Isoprene by propylene dimerization and pyrolysis — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Isoprene via isobutylene carbonylation — IFP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Linear alkylbenzene by PACOL/DeFine/PEP/Detal — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Linear alpha olefins — Chevron [T&S ISBL 2006]
Linear alpha olefins by Linear-1 process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
m-Xylene by MX Sorbex process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Maleic anhydride by fluid bed process — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Methacrylic acid by isobutylene oxidation — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Methanol via steam reforming and synthesis — Davy Process Tech. [T&S ISBL 2006]
N-Butanol from crude C4s — BASF [T&S ISBL 2006]
Naphthalene by three-stage fractional crystallizer — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Norbornene by Diels–Alder reaction — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
p-Xylene by Isomar and Parex processes — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
p-Xylene by Tatoray process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Pentaerythritol by condensation — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
PET resin chip with comonomer by NG3 — DuPont [T&S ISBL 2006]
Phenol from cumene (zeolite catalyst) — UOP/Sunoco [T&S ISBL 2006]
Phthalic anhydride by catalytic oxidation — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Polycarbonate by interfacial polymerization — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Polyethylene terephthalate (melt phase) — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Polystyrene by bulk polymerization, plug flow — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Propylene by metathesis — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Propylene by Oleflex process — UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Purified terephthalic acid — EniChem/Technimont [T&S ISBL 2006]
Refined glycerin by distillation/adsorption — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Sebacic acid by cyclododecanone route — Sumitomo [T&S ISBL 2006]
Sorbitol (70%) by continuous hydrogenation — Generic [T&S ISBL 2006]
Styrene by SMART process — ABB Lummus/UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Vinyl acetate by Cativa integrated process — BP [T&S ISBL 2006]
Vinyl acetate by Celanese Vantage process — Celanese [T&S ISBL 2006]
Visbreaking by coil-type visbreaker — Foster Wheeler/UOP [T&S ISBL 2006]

Process names and licensors are as printed in the cited table; a name in this list is a citation, not an endorsement or an affiliation.