3/17/2016

SpecificationofRuptureDiskBurstPressure

SpecificationofRuptureDiskBurstPressure

JosephF.Ball,PE
Director
NationalBoardPressureReliefDepartment
Category:Design/Fabrication
Summary:ThisarticlewasoriginallypublishedintheFall2011NationalBoardBULLETIN.(2printedpages)

Twocommoninspectionissuesreportedbyinspectorsconcerncorrectspecificationsforrupturediskdeviceburstpressure
andensuringproperlymatcheddiskspecificationstothepressurevesselbeingprotected.Arupturediskdeviceisanon
reclosingpressurereliefdevicethatactuatesupondifferentialpressureacrossthedisk.Itconsistsoftwomaincomponents:
therupturediskholderwhichprovidesthepressureboundaryandclampsthediskintoposition,andtherupturedisk(the
actuatingelement).

Rupturedisksarereplacedafteractuationorperiodicallyaspartofpreventativemaintenanceorinspection.Thesedevices
aremanufacturedinaccordancewithprovisionsoftheASMEBoilerandPressureVesselCode(ASMEB&PVCode),Section
VIII.TheyarecertifiedbytheNationalBoardthroughaprogramthattestssamplesforcorrectburstpressureandflow
resistance.Flowresistanceisaratingvalueusedtodeterminepressuredropacrossthedisk,andisusedbythesystem
designertosizethediskandreliefsystem.

Pressurevesselusersareresponsibleforproperselectionofanappropriaterupturediskdevice.Inspectorsperformingan
initialinstallationorinserviceinspectionmustthenevaluatethatselection.

ThefollowingASMEB&PVCode,SectionVIII(2010edition),providestherequirementsapplyingtotheevaluation:
1.UG134(a):
Whenasinglepressurereliefdeviceisused,themarkedsetpressureshallnotexceedthemaximumallowable
workingpressure(MAWP)ofthevessel.Multiplepressurereliefdevicesaresometimesusedandthecodeallows
forstaggeredsetpressuresinthosecases,however,forsimplicitywewilldiscusssituationswhereonlyonedeviceis
installed.

2.UG127(a)(1):
EveryrupturediskshallhaveamarkedburstpressureestablishedbytherulesofUG137(d)(3)withina
manufacturingdesignrangeataspecifieddisktemperature.Manufacturingdesignrange(MDR)raisessome
additionalissuesdiscussedlaterinthisarticle.
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SpecificationofRuptureDiskBurstPressure

3.SectionVIII,footnote48indicates:
Thespecifieddisktemperaturesuppliedtotherupturediskmanufacturershallbethetemperatureofthediskwhen
thediskisexpectedtoburst.Thisissometimescalledthecoincidenttemperature.
Vesselinformationimmediatelyavailabletotheinspectoristhevesselnameplatepossiblythedatareport.Bothprovidethe
MAWPanddesigntemperature.Minimumdesignmetaltemperature(MDMT)isalsolisted.

Problemsoccurwhenspecifyingthedisktemperature.Oftenthevesselsdesigntemperatureisused.Inmostcases,
coincidenttemperature(temperaturethatshouldbeused),isnotthesameasthevesseldesigntemperature,andshouldin
factbelessthanthedesigntemperature.Mostrupturediskmaterialsaresensitivetotemperature(theburstpressurewill
typicallydecreaseastemperatureincreases).

Whendiskmanufacturersqualifyadisklot,theyusespecifiedcoincidenttemperature(giventothembycustomers)asthe
manufacturingspecificationforthetesttemperature.Testproceduresrequireadisktobeinstalledintoatestassemblywhich
isplacedintoatestoven,heatedtothecoincidenttemperature,andtestedforburstpressure.Whenthatdiskisusedin
serviceatalowertemperature,theburstpressureisusuallyhigher,andifthediskmarkedburstpressurewasequaltovessel
MAWP,itwillburstatpressurehigherthantheMAWPwhenanoverpressureconditionoccurs.Peritem1above,setpressure
ofthepressurereliefdeviceshouldnotexceedMAWPatanytemperature.

Onediskmanufacturersuppliedasampleofitsproprietarydataontheeffectoftemperatureonburstpressureforasample
material,whereadifferenceinsetpressureforatemperaturedifferenceof100Fcouldbeasmuchas10percent.Therefore,
ifthespecifiedtemperaturedifferedfromthetemperatureofthediskbyseveralhundreddegreeswhencalleduponto
actuate,thesetpressurecouldbeoffbyasmuchas20percent!

Sowhatisthepropertemperaturetouseforcoincidenttemperature?Thenextchoiceisusuallynormalprocesstemperature.
However,upsetconditionsandnormaloperationconditionsneedtobeconsidered.Inchemicalprocessing,anoverpressure
conditioncanbecausedbyarunawaychemicalreaction,inwhichcasecoincidenttemperaturecouldbehigherthanthe
normalprocesstemperature.

Whentemperatureoftheprocessisknownduringanupsetcondition,diskpositioninthesystemcouldbesuchthatitdoes
notexperiencethesametemperatureasthebulkprocesstemperature.Disktemperaturemaybebasedmoreuponits
environmentthanthetemperatureoftheprocessfluid.

Arecentincidentinvolvingarupturediskpointedoutsomeoftheseproblems.Avesselwasratedat150poundspersquare
inch(psi)at400F,andarupturediskwasspecifiedwithasetpressureof150psiat400F.Theprocessfluidwasmostly
steam,andat150psi,thesaturationtemperatureofsteamisabout366F.Thediskwaslocatedonanozzleontopofvessel
andextendedfromthevesselsurfaceapproximatelysixinches.Thenozzleanddiskassemblywerenotinsulated.Although
actualdisktemperaturewasnotknown,heattransfertheorytellsusdiskassemblytemperatureissomewherebetweenfluid
temperatureandatmospherictemperature.Thediskcouldhavebeenoperatingatasmuchas200Flowerthanthe
specifiedtemperature,andtheactualburstpressureunderthoseconditionswouldhavebeenmuchhigherthanexpected.
Thevesselmayhaveexperiencedanoverpressurecondition,butthediskdidnotopenandtheheadconnectionfailed.It
flewacrosstheplantwherethevesselwaslocated,causingsignificantpropertydamage.Fortunately,nopersonnelwerein
theareawhenthevesselfailed,sotherewerenoinjuries.

Anotherproblemoccurswhenthemanufacturingdesignrange(MDR)isnotconsideredduringorderingofthedisks.The
codedefinitionofMDRisarangeofpressurewithinwhichthemarkedburstpressuremustfalltobeacceptablefora
particularrequirementasagreeduponbetweentherupturediskmanufactureranduserofhisdesignatedagent(SectionVIII,
footnote47).Sometimesconfusedwithburstpressuretolerance,thestampedsetpressurecanvaryfromthevaluespecified
bytheuserandstillbeacceptable.

Rupturediskburstpressureisusuallyratedbasedupontestvaluesdeterminedduringlotqualification.Thevaluemarkedon
thediskwouldbethetestburstpressureaverage.IfthataveragefallswithintheMDR,thelotisconsideredacceptable.
Becauseofsmallvariationsbetweentests,itcouldbedifficulttohittheexactrequiredvalue.Producinganotherlottohitan
exactspecifiedsetpressureaddscostandtimetodiskproduction,buttheproductqualityisnotchanged.Ifacustomerwants
anMDRtighterthanthestandardvalueforaparticularproduct,themanufacturercanprovideitatadditionalcosttotheuser.

AnexampleillustratestheuseofMDR

AmanufactureroffersadiskdesignhavingastandardMDRof+6%to3%forsetpressuresgreaterthan271psig.A
customerordersadiskwithaspecifiedburstpressureof300psigandstandardMDR.Whenthedisklotismanufactured,the
twotestburstpressuresare302and306psig,resultinginanaverageburstpressureof304psig.Themanufacturermarks
thedisksetpressureas304psig,andhasmetitscontractualrequirementbecausemarkedsetpressureis1.3%abovethe
specifiedvalue(MDRallows6%).Thedisklotmeetscodetolerancesbecauseeachtestburstiswithin+/5%ofthemarked
setpressure.ThediskisinstalledonapressurevesselwithaMAWPof300psig.Analertinspectorperformsaninspection
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SpecificationofRuptureDiskBurstPressure

andrejectsthediskbecausemarkedsetpressureexceedsvesselMAWP,whichisnotpermittedperparagraphUG134(a)of
SectionVIII.

Thecustomerssolutionistoeitherspecifyadiskwithazerorangewhichensuresthemarkedsetpressurewillequal
specifiedsetpressure(butperhapsbemoreexpensive),orspecifysetpressuresotheMDRwillneverresultinadiskwitha
setpressurethatistoohigh.Ifthecustomerhadorderedadiskwithaspecifiedsetpressureof283psig,thehighestitcould
havebeenmarkedwouldbe300psig(6%abovethespecifiedsetpressure).

Recognizingthispotentialproblem,mostmanufacturersnewerdesignshaveMDRsensuringthemarkedsetpressurecan
onlybeequaltoorlessthanspecifiedsetpressure.Atypicalrangeis10%and+0%.OlderdesignsoftenusedMDRslike
theoneabove,andtheusershouldbealerttothispossibility.Thisinformationcanbefoundincatalogliteratureforeach
design.

RecommendationstoInspectorsWhenRuptureDisksareUsed
1.ConfirmthemarkeddisksetpressureisequaltoorlessthanthevesselMAWP.

2.Lookatthemarkeddisktemperatureandconfirmithasbeenspecifiedsothatitisthetemperatureofthediskwhenit
isexpectedtoburst,andnotthevesseldesigntemperature.Normaloperatingconditions,upsetconditions,and
environmentaleffectsshouldallbeconsidered.
RecommendationstoRuptureDiskUsers
1.Ensurethedisktemperaturespecificationhasbeendeterminedproperlyandconsidersnormaloperatingconditions,
upsetconditions,andenvironmentaleffects.

2.Whenspecifyingadisk,checktheMDRsoitdoesnotresultinadiskstampedgreaterthanthevesselMAWP.

3.Whenorderingreplacementdisks,supplythepreviouslotnumberandspecifiedburstpressure.Diskmanufacturers
maintainextensiverecordsbaseduponlotnumbers,andtheusershouldalwaysreferbacktothisinformationwhen
orderingreplacementdisks.Specifyingonlythesetpressuremarkedonanolddiskcanresultinlotcreepwhen
eachlothasaslightlylowerorhighersetpressurethanthepreviouslot.

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