Single Phase Liquid Vessel Sizing for HYSYS Dynamics

Process Facilities often have intermediate storage Surge Study

facilities that store liquids prior to transporting to
From the estimates, the vessel chosen is flat
downstream equipment. The period of storage is
bottomed on concrete foundation & is subjected
short, i.e., of the order of minutes to hours & is
to a peak flowrate rise of 1,474 m3/h in a 2 min
defined as Holdup time. The Holdup time can also
interval. The liquid level rises to ~57% from 50%.
be explained as the reserve volume required to
ensure safe & controlled operation of
downstream equipment.
The intermediate vessel also acts as a buffer
vessel to accommodate any surge/spikes in flow
rates, and is termed as surge time.
Vessel Volume is an input data required in
Process Dynamic Simulation and the following
exercise covers estimation of volume required for
single phase liquid flow into an intermediate
vertical/horizontal/flat bottomed process vessel. Figure 1. Surge Flow rate increase on % Liquid Level
Problem Statement Thumb Rules
3
Water at 1,341 m /h, flows into a vessel & held The different arrangement types are as follows,
for a holdup time of 1 min before discharging into
downstream equipment. The vessel’s liquid
percent level is desired to be held at 50% (half
full) for a certain drain rate. Estimate the size of
the vessel required for an L/D ratio of 1.
Design Methodology & Results
Based on the above data, the vessel volume [V] Figure 2. Intermediate Storage Vessel Types & L/D Ratio

for a flow rate of 1,341 m3/h is, 1. Holding time for most intermediate tanks is 10
min (half full tanks)
𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒖𝒑 [𝒎𝒊𝒏] 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑽 = 𝑸[𝒎𝟑 ⁄𝒉] × × (1) 2. Holding time for feed tanks to furnace is 30
𝟔𝟎 % 𝑳𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒅 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍

Based on the vessel volume estimated for the min (half full).
holdup time, the dimensions of the vessel are, 3. The optimum ratio is 3 for commonly used L/D
ratios of 2 to 5.
𝟒𝑽
𝑫 = √𝝅𝑳 ; 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑳 = 𝒏 × 𝑫 (2) 4. Vessels < 4 m3, are vertically mounted with L/D
ratio of 2 to 5 on leg supports/ brackets.
Substituting the values for vessel dimensions,
5. Vessels 4 m3 < V < 40 m3 is horizontal & saddle
𝟏 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑽 = 𝟏𝟑𝟒𝟏 × 𝟔𝟎 × = 𝟒𝟒. 𝟕𝒎𝟑 (3) supported with L/D ratio of 2 to 5.
𝟓𝟎

Taking L = D, i.e., L/D ratio of 1.0 6. Vessels V > 40 m3 is flat bottom tank on
concrete foundation with L/D ratio of 0.5 - 1.5.
𝟑 𝟒×𝟒𝟒.𝟕
𝑫= √ ≈ 𝟑. 𝟗 𝒎 (4) References
𝝅
Perry’s Chemical Engineers Handbook, 7th Edition
Since L = D; Therefore L = 3.9 m.

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