Process Safety

Analysis in Aspen
HYSYS
ENG. AHMED DEYAB
ADEYAB@ADEYAB.COM
 Over-
pressurization
BP Texas City Refinery explosion,
March 23, 2005
15 fatalities, 180+ Injuries, severe
damage.

Various Pressure Relief system-related

citations were issued:

- Inadequate header design information

- Inadequate relief system
- Unprotected Equipment
Pressure Relief Analysis
1- Identify potential undesirable scenarios.
2- Designed and installed to vent the excess liquid or vapor
Process Safety Aspen full end-to-end solution for safety system design & rating

Analysis
◦ Comprehensive over-pressure protection analysis
Codes and standards
ASME section I for steam relief
ASME section VIII for
construction codes
API 520 PSV sizing
API 521 Relief Load
Calculations (List of Over-
Pressure Scenarios & the Wetted
and Unwetted Fire
methodologies)

API 526 (Default Effective

Orifice Areas) for HP vessels
API 2000 for LP tank protection
Codes and standards
Pressure-Relief Analysis Workflow
Data Gathering
Relief Scenarios identification and applicability
Calculate Required Relief load
Calculate Required Orifice Area
Design or Validate the PRD
Review and Maintain Documentation
 Pressure Relief
Valves
• Reclosing relief devices
Pressure
Relief
Devices Rapture Desks

• Non-reclosing relief
devices
 Safety valve :Used with compressible
gases, steam and air services .
Type of
Relief valve : Used in liquid systems.
Pressure as pressure overspill devices .
Relief Valve
Safety relief valve : used either for
liquid or compressible fluid.
Pressure Relief Valve
Conventional
PRV
Adding PSV
PSV
 Relief System/Over-Pressure Analysis
Conceptual Design & Feed Stage

Select an Calc.
Relief Calculate
Data Calculate Orifice Allowable
Scenarios required
Collection Relief Loads (Sizing Line Size
Identification Orifice Area
Case) In/out
 Relief System/Over-Pressure Analysis
Detailed Engineering Phase

a a
Calc.
Relief Calculate Check if
Data Calculate Allowable
Scenarios required Orifice is
Collection Relief Loads Line Size
Identification Orifice Area adequate
In/out
Over-Pressure Analysis -Data Gathering
Detailed review of P&ID, identifying equipment in open
communication (increase in pressure propagates to other equipment)
◦ Consider lines that are open in normal operation even lines with isolation
valves.
◦ Include all relief valves and rapture desks.
◦ Include normally closed lines
◦ Include system boundary equipment.

Limiting, lowest or design pressure or MAWP used as a basis of

PSV design/rating
Equipment Data
Equipment MAWP for all equipment
Dimensions & Elevation
Equipment Level and level alarms
Pump and Compressor Curves
Heater/Coolers Design limits
Design limits for pressure sources
Valves coefficients from datasheets.
Applicable Over-Pressure Contingencies
Industry standards, API 521
Company standards and project guidelines
Contingencies from prior PHAs of the system
Over-pressure Potentials/Contingencies
•Closed outlets on Vessels
•Inadvertent valve opening
•Check-valve malfunction
•Utility failure
•Partial failure
•Electrical or Mechanical Failure
•Loss of Fans
•Loss of heat in Series Fractionation
Systems
•Loss of Instrument Air or Electric
Power
•Reflux Failure
•Abnormal Heat Input from Reboilers
•Heat Exchanger tube failure
•Transient Pressure Surges
•Plant Fires
•Process changes/chemical reactions
22
Utility
Failure
Over-pressure Scenarios in HYSYS
Analyze applicability of over-pressure contingencies.
Summarize relieving loads and fluid properties
Calculate the orifice area
Use the sizing case scenario as the design basis

API 521 Section 4, provides guidance of protecting equipment against

over-pressure, properly sized PRD one of protection methods.
Initial Evaluation and screening
Evaluate all applicable contingencies

◦ Blocked outlet
◦ Control Valve Failure
◦ Loss of cooling
◦ Overfilling
◦ External Pool Fire
◦ Tube Rapture
Worked Example
1
2
3
 2

1
1
2

3
 Relief Load Calculations*
External Fire
Control Valve Failure
Heat Exchanger Tube Rapture
Thermal Expansion
Fan Failure
Reflux Failure

* Based on published industry papers and guidance for determining relieving loads and composition
API STD 520 part1 – Vapor Orifice Calculations
Back Pressure
When selecting a pressure relief valve (PRV) for any
application, many factors need to be taken into
consideration. One of the most important — and least well
understood — is back pressure.
 is the pressure on the outlet of the pressure relief valve. There
are two types of back pressure:

Superimposed back pressure. Superimposed pressure is the

pressure in the discharge header before the pressure relief
valve opens. Depending on the system, superimposed back
Back pressure can be constant or variable.

pressure Built-up back pressure. Built-up back pressure is the

pressure that develops as a result of flow after the pressure
relief valve opens.

Back pressure needs to be accounted for when sizing a PRV.

In general, back pressure should not exceed 10% of the set
pressure, especially for conventional relief valves.
Superimposed Back Pressure
 Back Pressure
For conventional relief valves, back pressure reduces set pressure directly on a
one-to-one basis*.
For example,
◦ a valve with a set point at 100 psig that is subjected to 10 psig of back pressure will not
reach set point until the system pressure reaches 110 psig. In this example, if the set point
is not adjusted to compensate for the back pressure, this can mean that valves are
operating at a level that is higher than their maximum allowable working pressure
(MAWP).

The effect of back pressure on valve capacity is much more significant.

Typically, high back pressure can decrease the PRV’s capacity by approximately
50%.

* Balanced Bellows valves back pressure correction facto Kb will follow fig. 30 in API 520 ninth edition section 5.3
Relieving
Phase -
Method
Relieving Phase:
Phase of the selected stream
when it is flashed to the
relieving Temperature &
Pressure

Relieving Method
Orifice Size method from API
520
Used to determine the
calculated orifice
 The equations used with this option (Direct Integration) are based on the
Homogeneous Equilibrium Method, which assumes the fluid mixture
behaves as a pseudo-single phase fluid, with a density that is the
volume-averaged density of the two phases.
This method is based on the assumption that thermal and mechanical
equilibrium exist as the two-phase fluid passes through the PRV.

Direct For high momentum discharges of two-phase systems in nozzles longer

Integration than 4 inches (10 cm), both thermal and mechanical equilibrium can be
assumed. These assumptions correspond to the homogeneous
(Full HEM) equilibrium flow model (HEM).
This method can be used for all two-phase discharge scenarios,
including supercritical fluids in condensing two-phase flow.

When using this method, the HYSYS built-in properties calculator is

used in order to evaluate fluid properties along the isentropic path.
Codes & Standards
Effective Orifice Area
From API 526 based on Set pressure, design
temperature, total BP, orifice size and Material
What’s Next?
Identify Potential Sources of Over-Pressure. 
Calculate the orifice size for each applicable scenario 
Select the appropriate device to protect the system 
THANK YOU