Industrialization process - Schematics in the process industry

The description of a process, piece of equipment or installation using schematics uses a symbolic graphic language, which must be common and universal if it is to be understood by all.

The language of the diagrams must be common to the various scientific professions that contribute to the design and development of the process: chemistry, biochemistry, physical chemistry, chemical engineering, instrumentation, mechanics... but also to all the company's players, whatever their activities or their level of execution and decision-making.

Diagram language must be universal. Graphic symbols, even if there is no single international standard, must be clear enough and close enough to each other to be used and understood by all professions, research, engineering, production, equipment manufacturing... whatever the original spoken language.

Schematics are at the heart of design, dimensioning and manufacturing methods. They are an integral part of the industrialization process, from the laboratory to the factory, from design to operation, and must be the tools used by all those involved. The quality of this activity is one of the key factors in the success of industrialization.

The aim of this article is to introduce everyone to the language of schematics, and to propose a method for creating them.

After a brief presentation of the industrialization process for a product and the process for obtaining it, in order to place ourselves in an industrial context, four sets of diagrams are analyzed:

• the block diagram (in English "block diagram" and in German "Grundfließbild"). It describes the chemical and physical stages of the process, and the flow of materials and heat from raw materials to the finished product;

• the process flowsheet ("Verfahrenfließbild");

• layout diagrams ;

• piping and instrumentation diagram or mechanical flowsheet (Rohrleitungs und Instrumentationfließbild), with equipment specification sheets.