Pressure/Safety Relief Valves

Section 4

Overpressure Protection Guidelines

for Fractionator, Exchanger and
Exchanger Tube Failure

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Fractionation Towers

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Utility Failure

 Loss of coolant (cooling water, fin-fan louver failure)

 Loss of electric power (fin-fan motor, reflux pump)

 Loss of steam (reboiler, preheater)

 Loss of instrument air (control valve failure)

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Controller Failure

 Failure of steam controller

 Failure of pressure controller

 Failure of feed controller (including stripping steam)

 Failure of reflux controller

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Extraneous Sources

 Valve opening to an external pressure source

 Loss of heating in an upstream column (The upstream

column will sent more liquid to the distillation column,
which simultaneously increase feed rate and light
components to the column)

 Failure of heat exchanger tube (e.g. reboiler)

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Internal Sources
 Accumulation of non-condensables

 Chemical reaction

 Closed column outlets

 Transient Sources

These include pockets of water which expanded, steam

hammer, and internal explosion

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External Sources

 External Fire

 Radiation heat

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Relieving Capacities

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Relieving Capacities

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Relieving Capacities

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Relieving Capacities
 Design Procedure
i. Consideration of contingencies: all conditions which will
result in process equipment overpressure is considered;
the relief flow determined for the worse case.
ii. Selection of pressure relief device based on the service
required.
iii. Pressure relief device specification: standard calculation
procedures for each type should be applied to determine
the size of the specific pressure relief device.
iv. Pressure relief device installation should be at the
correct location, used the correct size of inlet and outlet
piping, and with valves and drainage.

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PSV Locations

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PSV Locations

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PSV Locations
Location 'A'

 At column overhead, upstream of condenser best

location for columns operating above atmospheric
pressure

 Prevents downward vapour flow (as compared to lowly

placed relief valve) which might damage the trays

 Avoids discharging liquid when column become flooded

- may upset downstream relief header and impede the
ability of the relief valve to reduce column pressure
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PSV Locations
Location 'B‘

 At the vapour space in the column bottom, just below

the bottom tray or packing supports much less common

 Prevents trays from being uplifted under large

discharge rate

 Avoids possibility of overpressure due to plugged trays

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PSV Locations

Location 'C‘

 At the reflux drum (overhead accumulator)

when a partial condenser is used as a reflux drum

 Must be large enough to avoid liquid discharge

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Secondary Relief System

 A relief device is usually sized to accommodate the

failure that is expected to generate the largest relief
discharge rate. This failure may rarely occur. Once the
device is sized for this largest discharge rate, it will
discharge at this flow rate each time it opens.

 A secondary relief device, set at a pressure of about 10

psi less than the main relief; can reduce the
probability, frequency, and duration of discharge
through the main relief device to such an extent that
the main relief device would practically never open.
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Secondary Relief System

 An example of a secondary relief device consists of a

pressure control vent to flare. This system permits
quick operator intervention to control the discharge
rate. The system is also useful for sweeping non-
condensable gases out from the column.

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Heat Exchangers

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Heat Exchangers

 The assumption by API RP521 is that tubes seldom fail

or rupture catastrophically but spring small leaks

 These leaks seldom overpressure the low pressure side

of the exchanger during operation

 Recommended practices (API) stipulate that you do not

only look at the design pressure of the heat exchanger
but also of the attached upstream and downstream
equipment

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Heat Exchangers
 For example, assuming that downstream of the
exchanger tube side is some condensate collection
tank.
 For you to NOT consider a tube rupture scenario, the
condensate collection tank must also have a design
pressure that is within 2/3 of the shell side design
pressure.
 If not, then at the time its relief valve was sized, the
tube rupture scenario must have been taken into
account.
 If it wasn't, then it is in violation (assuming it has a
relief valve of course).

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Heat Exchangers – Two-thirds Rule

For exchanger where the low pressure side design

pressure is at least two-third (or 10/13) of the high
pressure side design pressure,
 The tube rupture case can be ignored if the upstream
and downstream equipment in the pressure system is
capable of handling the high side pressure.

 And, relief device may not be installed on the low

pressure side of the heat exchanger.

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Heat Exchangers – Two-thirds Rule

For example
 Low pressure side (L.P) : design pressure (D.P.) =
180psig

 High pressure side (H.P.): design pressure (D.P. =

300psig

 D.P of L.P/D.P. of H.P. = 180/300 = 0.6 < 2/3 and tube

rupture is a valid case

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Heat Exchangers – Two-thirds Rule

 The rule exempting tube rupture as a credible scenario

is based on the hydro-test pressure of the low-pressure
side (LPS) of the exchanger. That rule says that the
tube rupture scenario can be neglected when the LPS
test pressure is greater than or equal to the MAWP of
the high pressure side.

 The risk of over-stressing the LPS due to tube failure is

pretty low if the LPS has already been stress tested at
a value GTE the high pressure side MAWP.

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Hydrotest Pressures

 ASME changed the hydrotest pressure for Section VIII

pressure vessel in the late 90's. The earlier version
mandated a test pressure at 150% of MAWP. The later
(current) version has different allowable stress values,
and the required test pressure changed to 130% of
MAWP.

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Hydrotest Pressures
 So, for exchangers designed and fabricated according
to the old version, you use a 2/3 rule (100/150).

 For exchangers designed and fabricated according to

the current code, you use a 10/13 rule (100/130).

 To determine which rule applies, pull the U-1 report

for the exchanger, or check the nameplate, to see
which hydro-test pressure was used. Then apply the
applicable rule.

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Heat Exchangers and other vessels

 Considering heat exchanger when calculating relief
load of PSV’s at downstream vessel?
 API accepts multiple PSV installations.
 In this particular case, you have two options:
1. Add a small PSV in the vessel for fire case at heat
exchanger
2. Install a PSV in the heat exchanger
 You can have a small relief valve sized for fire case on
the heat exchanger set at 110% of system design
pressure where there is a large one on the vessel set
at 100% of system design pressure

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Caveat

Unfortunately, it is a little more complicated than what

has been discussed above. The rule given by API 521, 5th
ed. January 2007 can be found in section 5.19.2.
 It says, "Loss of containment of the low-pressure side
to atmosphere is unlikely to result from a tube rupture
where the pressure in the low-pressure side (including
upstream and downstream systems) during the tube
rupture does not exceed the corrected hydrotest
pressure”

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Caveat

 Quite simply, the closer the design pressure of the low

pressure side is to that of the high pressure side, the
more likelihood you will fall within this criterion and
be able to eliminate tube rupture as a relief sizing
case.

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Typical Heat Exchanger P and ID

Two small pressure relief valves are located near the outlets
of the heat exchangers for fire protection purposes.

 Two small pressure relief valves are located near the outlets of
the heat exchangers for fire protection purposes.
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