Mechanical Design of

Process Equipment
Factors to consider for a pressure vessel
How pressure vessels are designed?
How to apply ASME & Pressure vessel codes?
Why Safety Pressure Release Valves?

Praveen Linga

References
1 Towler
1.
Towler, G.,
G and Sinnott,
Sinnott R.,
R Chemical
Chemical
Engineering Design: Principles, Practice and
Economics of Plant and Process Design
Design, 2nd
Edition, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2013
2 Seider,
2.
S id W.D.,
W D Seader,
S d J.D.,
J D and
dL
Lewin,
i D
D.R.,
R
Product & Process Design Principles, Wiley, 3rd
Editi
Edition,
2009
2009, Ch
Chapters
t
23
23-24
24
3. Beer, F. P. and E. R. Johnston, Jr. Mechanics of
Materials, Second Edition in SI Units, McGraw
Hill, Book Company, Singapore 1982.
2

Introduction
Why a chemical engineer should be
interested in mechanical design?

Pressure vessel design

Storage tanks
Heat exchangers
Pressure release valves

Praveen Linga

specifications, extreme conditions that can be

reached (max P needs to be supplied to mech
engineer)

What data would a designer need?

Function of the vessel
Process materials (reactants, products etc)
Operating conditions
Design
D i conditions
diti
(P & T ffor example)
l )
conservative design for safety

Material of construction
based on T and P -> choose correct materials (affects cost)

Praveen Linga

What data would a designer need?

Vessel dimensions and orientation
Openings and connections required
Specifications of heating & cooling controls
Type
T
off agitators/packing
it t /
ki

depends on viscosity of liquid

Specifications of internal fittings

Praveen Linga

Design Project
Elemental understanding of pressure vessel
design
Cost estimation (mostly cost is based on
weight of material used and the complexities
of the design)
Volume of the vessel
Thickness of the vessel

BPVC - Boiler Vessel Pressure Cost

Internal
I t
l pressure & combination
bi ti off loads
l d acting
ti

Praveen Linga

Pressure vessel
There is no strict definition for a pressure
vessel
Different codes and regulations apply in different
countries

in general, take it as external diameter

Generally, a vessel with 150 mm diameter

subject to a pressure of more than 0.5
0 5 bar
An elementary understanding of strength of
materials
t i l (Mechanics
(M h i off solids)
lid ) needed
d d
pressure cooker ~0.1 bar gauge

Praveen Linga

Classification of Pressure Vessels

Ration of wall thickness to vessel diameter
Thin walled vessels
Thickness ratio of 1:10

most chbe designs are thin wall

Thick walled vessels

Thickness ratio above 1:10 ratio
Majority of vessels used in
chemical industry are classified
as thin walled vessels

Praveen Linga

Fundamental Principles of Equations

Basic understanding needed on the
fundamental principles
For more details, please refer to any
mechanics of solids book

Praveen Linga

Fundamentals principals of Equations

Basic understanding needed on
Principal
p stresses
Theories of failure
El ti stability
Elastic
t bilit
Membrane stresses in shells of revolutions
Flat plates
Dilation of vessels
Secondary stresses
For more details, please refer to any mechanics of solids book (reference 3)
Praveen Linga

10

Principal stresses
Principal stresses are defined as the maximum values of
th normall stresses
the
t
att the
th point
i t which
hi h actt on th
the planes
l
on which the shear stress is zero
In a two dimensional system,
principal stresses at any point is
related to normal stress in x and
y direction ( x & y) and the
shear stress ( xy) at the point
point,
given by the following equation

Two dimensional stress system

Praveen Linga

11

Principal stresses
The maximum shear stress at the point is
equal to half the algebraic difference
between the principal stresses
-

principle stresses are denoted by subscript 1 to 3

Compressive stresses are taken as negative

Tensile stresses are taken as positive
p

independent of each other

(deformation vs breakage/failure)

Praveen Linga

12

Theories of Failure
Simple structural element (unidirectional stress)
Failure under unidirectional stress ((compressive or
tensile) relates to the tensile strength of the material
Determined by
y a standard tensile test

Components subjected to combined stresses

in vessel, it is affected by multidimensional stress

Not so simple
Several theories have been proposed
There
Th
are three
th
commonly
l used
d th
theories
i
also, add safety factor for conservative design

use polycarbonate (strong but opacity diminishes w thickness)

Praveen Linga

13

Maximum principal stress theory

sigma 1, 2, 3
-> as long as any of the 3 reaches the failure value
-> MPST states that a member will fail

from standard tests of material

Praveen Linga

14

Maximum shear stress theory

similar to MPST

multidimensional

Principal stresses in a pressure vessel

Praveen Linga

15

Maximum shear stress theory

Maximum shear stress will depend on
the sign
g of p
principal
p stress
the magnitude of principal stress
For a thin walled pressure vessel
vessel, 3 can be
considered small or negligible, approximated as
two dimensional and hence 3 = 0
in the thickness direction

This theory is also called as Trescas or

Guests theory
Praveen Linga

16

Maximum strain energy theory

Postulates that failure will occur in a complex
stress system when the total strain energy
per unit volume reaches the value at which
failure occurs in simple
p tension
Maximum
Ma
im m shear stress theory
theor is the criterion
normally used for pressure vessel design

Praveen Linga

17

Elastic stability
Under certain loading conditions, failure of
a structure can be caused by buckling or
wrinkling
Buckling results in a sudden change of
shape of structure
Occurs when the structure is not elastically
sstable
ab e lack
ac o
of sstiffness
ess o
or rigidity
gd y
Stiffness is not dependent on the strength
of material but on its elastic p
properties
p
and
the cross sectional shape of member

Praveen Linga

18

Elastic stability
F
For structures like
lik to fail
f il by
b buckling,
b kli
there
h
will
ill
be a critical value of load, below which the
member
b iis safe,
f if exceeded
d d can llead
d tto
catastrophic failure
Pressure vessels can fail by buckling under
compressive loads
Example tall distillation columns can experience
compressive loads from winds

Elastic buckling is a decisive criterion for thin

walled vessels under external pressure

included on HAZOP

won't be gradual failure but catastrophic/quick failure

Praveen Linga

19

Membrane stresses in Shells of Revolution

A shell of revolution is the form swept out by
a line or curve rotated about an axis
A solid of revolution is formed by rotating an
area about an axis
Most process vessels are made up from
shells of revolution

Cylindrical and conical sections

Hemispherical
Ellipsoidal
Torispherical heads
almost flat top, rounded corners
cylinder

top portion has segments w 2 diff radii

Praveen Linga

20

Membrane stresses in Shells of Revolution

Th
The walls
ll off a thin
thi vessels
l can b
be considered
id d
as membranes supporting loads without
significant
i ifi
tb
bending
di or shear
h
stresses
t
similar
i il
to the walls of a balloon
Analysing membrane stresses induced in
shells of revolution by internal pressure
b i ffor determining
basis
d t
i i th
the minimum
i i
wallll
thickness required for vessel shells
Actual thickness will be determined from all
other loads
Praveen Linga

21

Membrane stresses in Shells of Revolution

Consider the shell of revolution shown in figure
g
under a loading that is rotationally symmetric
i.e. load per unit area (pressure) on the shell is
constant
t t around
d the
th circumference
i
f
b
butt is
i nott
the same from top to bottom

varies

const

P = pressure
p
t = thickness of shell
1 = meridional (longitudinal stress)
i
f
ti l or tangential
t
ti l stress
t
(hoop
(h
stress)
t
)
2 = circumferential
r1 = meridional radius of curvature
r2 = circumferential radius of curvature
Lets consider forces acting on the element defined by the
points a, b, c, d.

(a)

(b)
Stress in a shell of revolution

Praveen Linga

22

Membrane stresses in Shells of Revolution

The normall component ((component acting
Th
i at right
i h angles
l to the
h surface)
f
)
of the pressure force on the element is

This force is resisted by the normal

component of the forces associated
with the membrane stresses in the
walls of the vessel (force = stressarea)
Forces acting on sides of element abcd

Equating these forces, simplifying also with d /2

1

r1

r2

P
t

dS/2r & sin d

P for unit is known (design parameter)

(1)
Praveen Linga

23

Membrane stresses in Shells of Revolution

Hoop's stress (circumfrantial stress, sigma 2)

An expression for the meridional stress 1 can

be obtained by considering equilibrium of
forces acting about any circumferential line
The vertical component of the pressure force is

P (r2 sin ) 2

This force is balanced by the vertical component

of the force due to the meridional stress
acting in the ring of the wall of the vessel

2 1t (r2 sin ) sin

Equating these two forces gives

1

Pr2
2t

(2)

Meridional stress, force acting

on a horizontal p
plane

These two equations are completely general for

any shell
h ll off revolution
l ti
Praveen Linga

24

Cylinder and Sphere

A cylinder is swept out by the rotation of a
line parallel to the axis of revolution, so
r1

D
2

r2

S b tit ti iin equation

Substituting
ti 1 & 2
2
1

PD
;
2t

F sphere,
For
h
r1

r2

hence,
1

PD
4t

D
2
PD
4t
4t
Praveen Linga

25

Cone and Ellipsoid

A cone is
i swept out b
by a straight
i h liline iinclined
li d at an
angle to the axis, so
r1

r2

r
cos

Substituting in equation 1 & 2

2

Pr
;
t cos

Pr
2t cos

varies proportionally w r
compare largest sigma to failure value

The maximum values will occur at r=D2/2

For an ellipse with major axis 2a and minor axis 2b, it
can be
b shown
h
th
thatt
r23b 2
geometry of ellipse
r1
4
a
Praveen Linga

26

Ellipsoid
From equation 1 & 2
Pr2
;
1
2
2t
At the crown (top)

r1

Similarly,

a2
b

r2
1

P
r2
t

r22
2r1

r1 and r2 varies w location

Pa 2
2tb
r2

at the equator (bottom) r1 a, so r1

Pa
P
a2
;
a
1
2
2t
t
2b 2 a

b2 a
Pa
a2
1
t
2b 2

It should be noted that if (a/b)2 >1, 2 will be negative (compressive)

and the shell could fail by buckling.
buckling
Praveen Linga

27

Torus
A torus is formed by rotating a circle, radius r2, about an axis
Pr2
1
2t
R0 r2 sin
R
r1
sin
sin
and

Pr2
r2 sin
1
2(( R0 r2 sin )
t

On the center line of the torus, point c,

2

=0 and

Pr2
t

At the outer edge, point a, = /2, sin =1 and

Pr2 2R0 r2
minimum value
2
2t R0 r2
At the inner edge, point b, =3 /2, sin =-1, and
maximum
i
value
l
Pr2 2 R0 r2
2
2t R0 r2
Praveen Linga

A surface obtained by revolving a circle about

p
axis in three dimensional space
p
a coplanar

28

Torispherical heads
A torispherical shape, often used at the end closure of cylindrical
vessels
l is
i fformed
d ffrom partt off a ttorus and
d partt off a sphere.
h
The shape is close to that of an ellipse but is easier and cheaper
to fabricate
Rk is the knuckle radius (radius of the torus), Rc is the crown
radius (radius of the sphere). For spherical portion
PRc
1
2
2t
For the torus,
PRk
1
2t
Torisphere

2 depends on the location and is a function of Rc and Rk; it can

be calculated from relevant equation for torus and sphere
Ratio of Rk and Rc should not be less than 6/100 to avoid buckling
Stress will be higher in the torus section than spherical section
Praveen Linga

29