Rotating Equipment

N. KADAM, Daelim Industries Co. Ltd.,

Seoul, South Korea

Design a pressure safety valve at the

centrifugal pump discharge
In most process plants, it is unusual to install a pressure safety valve (PSV) at the site of the centrifugal pump and compressor discharge, but some PSVs are needed and are installed to
protect the system against miscellaneous scenarios that could
create overpressure in the system.1
An external PSV is often installed at reciprocating pumps
and the reciprocating compressor discharge to protect the
machine and downstream system against block discharge. For
the reciprocating pumps, an internal PSV is often provided to
protect the casing, since the pump and compressor circuits are
usually designed for the pump shutoff pressure and compressor
settle-out pressure, respectively. This ensures that pump/compressor discharge piping and equipment are protected against a
blocked outlet scenario. Instead, providing a PSV at the pump
discharge before the first isolation valve would solve and fulfill
safety purposes.
Calculating load for such PSVs during the early stages of design is always a conservative approach, which, in turn, results in
oversizing the PSV and its inlet and outlet lines. Therefore, it is
the designers duty to redesign the PSV once the pump curves
are available from the vendor.
System description. A side-draw liquid (solvent) from a solvent tower (C-101) is collected in a collection drum (D-101)
to separate the vapor content from the solvent (FIG. 1). Vapors
from drum D-101 are then routed back to the tower. Liquid
from the drum is pumped to the solvent storage tank (T-101)
using the solvent collection pump (P-101A/B) through a solvent cooler (E-101). Before the solvent cooler E-101, a hot
solvent stream is provided as a flushing liquid for other pumps
during startup. The isolation valve on the flushing liquid header
is normally closed, and it is opened when required.

falls into 300#-rating piping. The provision of PSV-102 at the

P-101A/B discharge line could restrict the maximum pressure
in the discharge header at 15 barg. Thus, the installation of the
PSV-102 is justified in this case.
PSV-102 design (preliminary)Scenario analysis:

1. Loss of cooling water or other cooling fluid: There is no

cooling water or other cooling fluid used in this system,
so this is not an applicable scenario.
2. Loss of power: The loss of power to the P-101A/B
would lead to a shutdown of the pump. This is not a
credible overpressure scenario.
3. Steam failure: Not applicable (N/A)
4. Instrument air failure: The EBV-101 on the P-101A/B
suction line; the EBV-102 on the P-101A/B discharge
line; the LV-101 on the E-101 tube side outlet line;
and the EBV-103 on the flushing liquid header are
demonstrating a fail-closed position. Instrument air
failure will cut off inlet and outlet flow of the solvent,
so this will not lead to overpressure.
5. Control valve failure: The inadvertent closing of LV101 will lead to a blocked outlet from E-101. This will
result in the P-101A/B reaching its shutoff pressure.
The preliminary shutoff pressure of the pump is higher
than the PSV-102 set pressure. Thus, this scenario is a
credible overpressure scenario.
Flushing liquid header
PSV-101
Set at: 6 barg

EBV-103
CWS

System information. Solvent tower C-101 and collection

E-101
D-101
NLL

LV-101
CWS

EBV-102

C-101
2,500 mm

drum D-101 are protected by the PSV-101, which is located

on the C-101 overhead line and set at a C-101 design pressure
of 6 barg. Another safety valve, PSV-102, is installed on the P101A/B discharge line before the first isolation valve to protect
the exchanger tube side and the downstream pipeline from the
pump P-101A/B shutoff condition. The PSV-102 is set at 14.5
barg, considering the liquid static head (TABLE 1).
The use of flushing header piping is not frequent and would
only be used during startup. Designing a flushing liquid header
for the P-101A/B shutoff pressure is not cost effective since it

IA

To are

PSV-102
Set at: 14.5
barg
IA

T-101

IA
EBV-101

4,000 mm
P-101A/B

FIG. 1. A centrifugal pump system.

Hydrocarbon Processing|APRIL 201669

Rotating Equipment

Flushing liquid header design pressure

15 barg

PSV-102 set pressure1

14.5 barg

Density of the solvent

1,200 Kg/m3

Viscosity of the solvent

0.63 cP
170 m3/hr

Normal capacity of P-101A/B

Differential head of the P-101A/B

70 m

Maximum suction pressure for P-101A/B2

1

6.3 barg

The PSV set pressure is corrected, considering a 4-m liquid static head from the
pump discharge nozzle.
The maximum suction pressure for the P-101A/B is considered the same as the D-101
design pressurePSV-101 set pressure + a liquid static head of 2.5 m.

TABLE 2. A design comparison of the PSV orice size, and the

inlet line and outlet line sizes for both of the relieving rates
PSV-102
Parameter

Preliminary

Final

170

60

4 in. 6 in.

2 in. 3 in.

PSV designation

Inlet line size, in.2

6 in.

3 in.

Outlet line size, in.3

6 in.

3 in.

Relieving load, m /hr

PSV size1
1

1
2

The PSV size and designation is decided as per API 526.2

The inlet line size is calculated considering the inline pressure drop, which does not
exceed 3% of the set pressure as per API 520.3 The inlet length is considered as 10 m.
The outlet line size is calculated considering the balanced bellow PSV and inline
pressure drop, which does not exceed 30% of the set pressure as per API 520.3
The outlet length is considered as 20 m.

Preliminary shutoff pressure calculations are as follows:

Shutoff pressure = Maximum suction pressure +
1.25 differential pressure
= 6.3 + 1.25 (70 1.2 10)
= 16.8 barg.

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

During the early design stage, because no vendor

information is available, the relieving load is assumed to
be the same as the normal capacity of pump P-101A/B,
which is 170 m3/hr. The PSV-102 size, inlet line and
outlet line sizes are calculated based on the assumed
relieving load.
Blocked outlet: See scenario 5
Gas blow through: N/A
External fire: N/A
Exchanger tube rupture: E-101 follows the 10/13 rule.
This scenario is not credible.
Liquid overfill: N/A
Thermal expansion: The solvent operating temperature
is 85C. Thermal expansion due to solar radiation is
not credible.
Vacuum: N/A.

PSV design based on vendor information. Referring to the

performance curve (FIG. 2) received from the vendor, the shutoff
head rise is 20%. Thus, the recalculated shutoff pressure would be:

Shutoff pressure = 6.3 barg + 1.2 (70 1.2 10)

= 16.38 barg.
70APRIL 2016|HydrocarbonProcessing.com

40% 50%

60% 65%
Hydr. eff.
70.7%
69.7%

15 barg

Head 20%

209
64.6%

200
50%

56.7%
40%
160
140
NPSHvalues

140

209

E-101 tube-side design pressure

92
84
80.4 m
76
68
60
52
44
28
28
20
12
8.5
7.5
6.5
5.5
4.5
3.5
75
65
55
45
35
25
15

Shaft
power
P2

Kw

TABLE 1. A summary of the PSV operating parameters

209
200
140

20

40

60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280
60 m3/hr
m3/hr

FIG. 2. The performance curve for the P-101A/B discharge line.

The calculated shutoff pressure is higher than the PSV set

pressure. Thus, this case still stands as credible. The relieving
load is recalculated as per the performance curve:
Relieving pressure for PSV-102 = 15.95 barg
(considering a 10% accumulation)
Maximum suction pressure = 6.3 barg
Differential head corresponding to relieving pressure
= (15.95 6.3) 10 1.2 = 80.4 m
Referring to the performance curve, relieving flowrate
= 60 m3/hr.
Design comparison. The PSV orifice size, and the inlet line

and outlet line sizes are calculated for both of the relieving rates.
The comparison for the design is summarized in TABLE 2. It is
clear that the designed PSV-102 was oversized during its early
stage. The design was rectified after the vendor data was received. Although this leads to a marginal cost savings, the correct
design would prevent some operational problems related to the
PSV if it is oversized.
Whenever PSVs are installed at the centrifugal pump in the
plant, their design has to be rechecked and finalized based on the
pump vendor data. In some cases, this could lead to significant
cost reductions. Additionally, a correctly sized PSV would prevent
operational difficulties and ensure the safety of the system.
LITERATURE CITED
API Standard 521, Pressure-relieving and depressuring systems, 6th Ed., 2014.
2
API Standard 526, Flanged steel pressure-relief valves, 6th Ed., 2009.
3
API Standard 520, Sizing, selection and installation of pressure-relieving devices
in refineries: Part 1Sizing and selection, 8th Ed., 2008.
1

NIKHIL KADAM is working as a senior process engineer for Daelim Industries

Co. Ltd. in Seoul, South Korea. He has more than nine years of experience in the
front-end engineering and design (FEED) and detailed engineering fields, and has
worked on a variety of refinery, chemicals, and oil and gas projects. Mr. Kadam
earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from Mumbai University in India.