POLYMER PROCESS INDUSTRIES

PROCESS FLOW SYMBOLS

Submit to: Mr. Aamir Shehzad

Submit by: M. Imran Aslam (2013-pe-38)

Process and Instrumentation Diagrams use special shapes to represent

different types of equipments, valves, instruments and pipelines.
Process and Instrumentation Symbols - Equipment
Pumps and tanks come in a variety of designs and shapes.

Pump: is a mechanical device using suction or pressure to raise or move liquids, compress gases, or
force air into inflatable objects such as tires. The symbols for pumps may closely resemble those for
compressors.
Centrifugal pump: is rotodynamic pump that uses a revolving impeller to add to the force and
pressure of fluids.
Gear pump: provides continuous, non-pulsing flow making it ideal in chemical installations.
Sump pump: is widely used to remove accumulated water from a sump pit or other location.
Vacuum pump: is applied to improve the efficiency of steam heating systems in many ways. The
most important consideration is the rapid and efficient removal.
Screw pump: is the Archimedes screw pump that is still used in irrigation and agricultural
applications.
Tank: is for storing process fluids of various types, under different process conditions.
Onion tank: refers to an open top collapsible bladder designed for use as a mobile storage solution
when recovering contaminants.
Compressor: is a mechanical device that takes in a medium and compresses it to a smaller volume. A
mechanical or electrical drive is typically connected to a pump that is used to compress the medium.
Axial compressor: is widely used in gas turbines, such as jet engines, high speed ship engines and
small scale power stations.
Reciprocation compressor: is typically used where high compression ratios are required per stage
without high flow rates, and the process fluid is relatively dry.

Rotary compressor is a type of gas compressor which uses a rotary type positive displacement
mechanism.
Mixing is a device that combine or put some materials together to form one substance or mass.
Mixing vessel is a container that is used to blend several components together.
Heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat energy between two process flows. Heat exchangers
transfer heat energy through conductive and convective heat transfer.
Cooling towers transfer heat energy to the outside air through the principle of evaporation.
Cooler is a device, container or room that cools air through the evaporation of water or keeps air cool.
Turbine driver is used to drive pumps and fans at petrochemical plants.
Furnace is a device for heating a continuous current of air by means of a fire contained within the
apparatus and without mingling the fresh air with the products of combustion.
Boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated.

Oil burner: is engineered from the ground up exclusively to burn waste oils.
Automatic stoker: is applied to supply hot water to central heating systems.
Plate tower: is used extensively in many processes and industrial applications.
Packed tower: is a type of packed bed used to perform separation processes.
Elevator: is used to control the position of the nose of the aircraft and the angle of attack of the wing.
Mixing reactor: is widely used in the chemical industry to promote mixing.

Process and Instrumentation Symbols - Valves

Gate valve is a device used to control the flow of liquids and gases.
Check valve, also known as one-way valve, is to prevent the line of medium back.
Globe valve is a mechanism used to control or stop the flow of liquid or gas through a pipe.
Ball valve is a valve with a spherical disc, the part of the valve which controls the flow through it.
Butterfly valve is installed between two flanges using a separate set of bolts for each flange.
Angle valve is oriented at an angle of 90 deg of gate valve.

Process and Instrumentation Symbols - Piping Lines

Process flow diagrams use special piping lines to represent how signals are transmitted between
equipments. These symbols are used to identify how the instruments in the process connect to each
other. And what type of signal is being used. (electrical, pneumatic, data, etc)

All lines to be fine in relation to process piping lines.

Major pipeline is used to connect the equipment in any position.
Major straight line is sued to connect the equipment in the same horizontal or vertical position.
Process connection help to create the process flow between equipments. Double click process
connection to edit description.

Process and Instrumentation Symbols - Instruments

Process Flow Diagram use symbols and circles to represent each instrument and how they are interconnected in the process.