14-Jul-18

Preliminaries for pressure

vessel design

Ref:
Introduction to Chemical Equipment Design
(Mechanical Aspects)
B.C.Bhattacharya

Outline of Presentation
1. Design Codes
2. Maximum Working pressure
3. Design Pressure
4. Design Temperature
5. Design Stress and factor of safety
6. Design wall thickness and minimum actual wall thickness
7. Corrosion Allowance
8. Welded Joint efficiency factor
9. Design Loadings
10. Poisson’s ratio
11. Elastic Instability
12. Stress concentration
13. Moment of Inertia
14. Radius of Gyration
15. Section Modulus
16. Brittle Rupture

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Code and standard

• Standard : Documents prepared by a professional
group or committee who are believed to be good
and proper engineering practice
• Code : A group of general rules or systematic
procedures for design, fabrication, installations
and inspection of pressure vessel or its
components.
• Though the basis for the development of design
equation in all the codes is same, vessel wall
thickness in various countries varies.

No Country Organization Abbreviation

1 United states American National Standard ANSI
Institute

2 Canada Standard Council of Canada SCC

3 France Association Francaise AFNOR

4 United Kingdom British standards Institute BSI

5 Europe Committee of Europe CEN

Normalization

6 Germany Deutsches Institute of Normung DIN

7 Japan Japanese Industrial Standards JIS

Committee

8 India Bureau of Indian Standard BIS

9 Worldwide International Organization for ISO

Standard

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American Standard
• The American Petroleum Institute (API)
• The American Society for Mechanical
Engineers (ASME)
– ASME Sec VIII 31.3  Unfired PV design
• The American Society for Testing Materials
(ASTM)
• American National Standard Institute (ANSI)

Well-known Standard and Code

British Standard Indian Standard
• BS 10 - Flanges • IS 2825: 1969- Unfired
• BS 2598 - Gas Pressure Vessel
Pipes and fittings • IS 4864 to IS 4870 – Flanges
• BS 8010 - pipelines • IS 4731 - STHE design
• BS 5500 - Pressure
vessel Design

Keeping in view “THE SAFETY FIRST” principle, it is the

designer’s responsibility to make his design the most
economical

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What will you get?

Standard Code
• Materials properties and
• Preferred size compositions
• Safety in design aspects • Testing procedure
• Measurability of inter- performance compositions
and quality
changeability between
different • Preferred size
manufacturers. • Code of practice for safety
and plant operation.
• Used for the standard • Code of safety for pressure
designing vessels design.
• Design method for
inspection and fabrication

Code for chemical process industry

• Unfired pressure vessel
– Indian standard (IS 2825-1969)
– British code (BS 1500and 1515)
– American code (ASME section VIII)
– German code (DIN ,AD Markblaetter )
• Shell and tube heat exchanger
– IS 4503-1967

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Factors to be considered include

• Code gives guideline for safe design and construction
for pressure equipments.
• All requirements of the selected code shall be met.
• More than one code may apply to different parts of the
installation.
• Code prohibits designs and constructions known to be
unsafe and contains warnings where caution, but not
prohibition, is warranted.
• Compliance with a standard does not itself confer
immunity from legal obligations.
• The user is responsible for imposing requirements of the
code if necessary to assure safe design for proposed
installation.
• Not concern with the economics of the designing.

Maximum Working Pressure

• The maximum gauge pressure at
working temperature that is permitted for
the vessel in operation is called as the
working pressure.
• Does not account pressure fluctuations
inside and outside the vessel.
• This is normally calculated based on
thermodynamics.

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Design T and P
• Design pressures and temperatures are
based on specified safety margin on top
of the process operating conditions.
• In no case will the maximum design
pressure or temperature be less than the
maximum operating pressure or
temperature plus the safety margin.

Design Pressure (< 200bar)

• For vessel Under Internal Pressure
• Design pressure = 1.05 * maximum working pressure
– In case static head is more than 5%, then
• Design pressure = 1.05 * (maximum working pressure
+ static head)
• For vessel Under External Pressure
– Case I: Inside below 1atm and outside 1atm
• Design pressure = 1 – Pi atm or more upto 1atm
– Case II: Inside 1atm and outside above 1atm
• Design Pressure = 1.05 * Maximum external gauge pressure
– Case III: Inside below 1atm and outside above 1atm
• Design Pressure = 1.05P0 + (1-Pi)

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DESIGN TEMPERATURE (> 250C)

• The strength of metals decreases with increase in the
temperature so maximum allowable design stress will
depend upon material temperature.
• Should be less than maximum temperature listed in the
stress table.
– Case 1: Unheated Part : Highest temperature of stored material
– Case 2 : Indirectly Heated part with common heating medium :
100C higher than the maximum temperature attained by that
part.
– Case 3 : Directly heated part with fire, electricity or highly
exothermic reaction:
• (i) If vessel is shielded : highest inside temperature + min 20C.
• (ii) If vessel is Unshielded : highest inside temperature + min 50C.
• In any case minimum design temperature > 250C.

ASME Nomenclature

• NSOP : Normal Service Operating Pressure

• NSOT : Normal Service Operating
Temperature
• MSOT : Minimum Service Operating
Temperature
• NSEP : Normal Service External Pressure

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Summary according to ASME

Pressure Temperature
NSOP (barg) Design Pressure • Tmax = NSOT + 15C
0 – 10 NSOP + 1barg • Tmin = NSOT – 5C
11 – 50 NSOP + 10%

51 – 100 NSOP + 5barg

> 100 NSOP + 5%

For Vessel Subjected Vaccum Design

pressure = NSEP + 0.15bar

Design Loadings
• Loadings or forces are the “causes” of stresses in pressure
vessels.
• These forces and moments must be isolated both to determine
where they apply to the vessel and when they apply to a
vessel.
• Categories of loadings define where these forces are applied.
• Loadings may be applied over a large portion (general area) of
the vessel or over a local area of the vessel.
• Remember both general and local loads can produce bending
stresses.
• These stresses are additive and define the overall state of
stress in the vessel or component.

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Types of Loading
Steady state load Un steady state load
Vessel is under the load during its useful vessel may experience some or all of
life these loadings at various times but not
Internal / external pressure all at once and not more or less
continuously
Dead weight
Shop and field hydro test
Vessel contents
Earthquakes
Due to attachments like pipe, platforms
Erections
Loading to and from the support
Transportation
Thermal load
Shut down and start ups
Wind load
Thermal load
Upsets and emergency

Design Stress
• Stresses created under the
application of load must be limited
to a permissible value that is
accepted as safe for a particular
material and its applications at
design temperature.
• This value of stress is known as
DESIGN STRESS or
PERMISSIBLE STRESS or
ALLOWABLE STRESS.

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Design
Design Stress
Stress
• In case of ductile material, where failure can be expected to
occur as a result of plastic deformation, the design stress is
usually obtained by dividing the yield stress of MoC by a
Factor of Safety,
Yield Stress
Design Stress 
Factor of Safety
• In case of brittle material, it fails by fracture with little or no
deformation. The design stress is given by
Ultimate Stress
Design Stress 
Factor of Safety

FACTOR OF SAFETY
• Limiting stress is the stress at which part fails
to work and Design stress is the stress at which
computation is done for the designing of the
part.
[Design stress < Limiting stress].

• The design stress factor allows for any

uncertainty in the design methods, loading,
non uniformity of material and inaccuracy in
stress analysis.

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Factor of safety (IS 2825-1969)

• 1.25 to 1.5  for exceptionally reliable materials
used under controlled conditions subjected to load
• 1.5 to 3  well known materials under constant
conditions
• 3 to 4  less tried as well as for brittle materials
• 5 to 6  untried materials

• Value of Factor of safety can be reduced by incorporating

certainty with which condition of service is known,
intrinsic reliability of material, accuracy with which
stresses are calculated and degree to which failure is un
attempted by danger or loss.

Minimum Wall Thickness

• A standard available sheet metal thickness which
satisfy the design requirement and takes into account
appropriate allowance for
– Rigidity, weldebility etc.
– Non uniformity in sheet metal thickness
– Corrosion or erosion etc.
• Seamless, welded and brazed pressure vessel > 2mm
• Aluminum or soft metal > 3mm
• Copper > 7mm
• Riveted > 5mm

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Corrosion allowance
• Corrosion, erosion and abrasion of pressure
vessel is common due to environment
• Thickness of equipment slowly decreases with
time.
• To compensate, at design stage extra thickness
is added to minimum required thickness
calculated by code formulae.
• This extra addition is called as corrosion
allowance.

Corrosion allowance
• Accurate prediction in advance is not
possible.
Guideline:
 For CS and CI parts:
CA = 1.5mm for chemical industries
CA = 3mm for petroleum industries
 For SS and non-ferrous parts no corrosion
allowance is needed for same conditions.
 if wall thickness is more than 30mm for any
MoC CA can be neglected.

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Welded Joint Efficiency Factor

• Given by symbol J.
• It is ratio of arbitrary strength of welded joint
to the strength of plates welded.
• Values depends upon welded joints and
percentage of radiography.
• As welded part of vessel is weaker than the
rest of the parts, the extra thickness is therefore
required in and around joint section to improve
its strength.
• In Industry various type of welding are used.
Some of them are shown here.

Joint efficiency factor

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POISSON’S RATIO
• A bar/plate subjected to axial
tension/compression is elongated/contraction
in the axial direction, at the same time it
undergoes lateral contraction/elongation.
• The ratio of unit lateral contraction (unit lateral
strain) to the unit axial elongation (unit axial
strain) is constant within the elastic limit for
given material.
• This constant is called Poission’s Ratio.
• It is symbolized by .
• For pressure vessel steels  = 0.3.

Poisson's ratio
• Poisson’s ratio = lateral strain / axial strain = -
єx / єz = - єy / єz
• Negative sign is included in equation so that 
will always remains positive because strains
have negative values.

Lateral, x
Axial, z

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ELASTIC INSTABILITY
• It is the phenomenon associated with
structures having limited rigidity or
stiffness and subjected to compression,
bending, torsion or a combination of such
loading conditions.
• Elastic instability is a condition in which
the shape of the structure is altered as a
result of insufficient stiffness.

ELASTIC INSTABILITY
• It is often controlling factor when compressive
loads are involved.
• Buckling of pressure vessels under external
pressure.
• Buckling of horizontal vessels under the
bending moment induced by reaction between
the vessel and saddle support.
• Generally associated with the thin sheets.

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STRESS CONCENTRATION
• Elastic stress across section (virgin) may vary in
some regular manner.
• Abrupt change in stress distribution, within a very
short distance the intensity of stress increases greatly,
this condition is described as stress concentration
• Due to load inequality in form, discontinuity in the
shape such as holes for nozzle connections, torus with
formed ends, sharp covers at the junction of
cylindrical shell with flat covers
• This are examples of stress risers.

STRESS CONCENTRATION
• Stress concentration ratio = true maximum
stress / stress calculated by the conventional
formula. = 3 to 5
• Brittle material stress concentration is always
serious.
• It is also serious in the members subjected to
fluctuating loads, ductile material subjected to
varying stress deterioration.

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Special Properties

• Moment of Inertia (I) I   dA  y 2

I
• Radius of Gyration (k) k
A
I
• Section Modulus (Z) Z
c

BRITTLE RUPTURE
• Current trend towards the use of high-strength
steels having lower ductility increases the
possibility of failure by rupture
• Ductile material may fail well below its
ultimate stress due to brittle fracture.
• It never give any indication of failure.
• This phenomena is called Brittle Rupture.

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Causes
• Wrong selection of heat treatment
• Presence of defect in material
• High localized stress in the vicinity of notch
• Operation at very low temperatures
• Operation under cyclic load conditions

What should be reviewed?

• Normal and maximum operating conditions
• Blowdown and depressuring and short term conditions which may be
experienced during start-up or shut-down including initial well clean-up
and start-up
• Emergency conditions such as electric power failure, instrument air
failure, cooling water failure etc.
• Overpressure protection of the system (excessive relief system cost may
be incurred if the specified design pressures and temperatures are not
compatible).
• Required codes and standards such as ASME, API as well as any local
or national codes and standards.
• Individual equipment operation and failure and its interaction with the
other equipment in the system.
• Upstream and downstream conditions of the system.

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What should be reviewed?

• pressure safety valve set pressures.
• pump shut off head conditions.
• conditions during purging, start-up, shut-down (e.g.
compressor settle out conditions).
• minimum/maximum ambient conditions.
• possibility of vacuum occurring from vapour condensation.
• Slug / surge control
• fire conditions - note that relief conditions in equipment
during a fire case are not normally to be used in establishing
design conditions. The effect of fire is taken into account in
sizing and setting of safety and pressure relief devices to
prevent rupture of equipment and piping.

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