BASICS OF PRESSURE EQUIPMENTS

CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION TO PRESSURE EQUIPMENTS IN PROCESS INDUSTRIES

Pressure Vessels

A pressure vessel is a closed container designed to hold gases or liquids at

a pressure substantially different from the ambient pressure.

Based on their shapes, they are classified into two type namely cylindrical and spherical
vessels or spheres.

Cylindrical Vessel

Spherical Vessel

Based on the orientation, cylindrical vessels are classified into two type namely vertical
and horizontal vessels.
 Vertical Vessel

Horizontal Vessel

Jacketed Vessels

A jacketed vessel is a container that is designed for controlling the temperature of its
contents, by using a cooling or heating "jacket" around the vessel through which a
cooling or heating fluid is circulated. Various type of Jacketed Vessels are as follows.4

Conventional Jackets. A second shell is installed over a portion of the vessel, creating
an annular space within which cooling or heating medium flows. A simple conventional
 jacket, with no internal components, is generally very inefficient for heat transfer
because the flow media has an extremely low velocity resulting in a low heat transfer
coefficient. Internals include baffles that direct flow in a spiral pattern around the jacket,
and agitating nozzles that cause high turbulence at the point where the fluid is
introduced into the jacket.

Conventional Jackets

Half-Pipe Coil Jackets. Pipes are split lengthwise, usually with an included angle of 180
degrees (split evenly down the middle) or 120 degrees, then wound around the vessel and
welded in place.

Half-Pipe Coil Jackets

 Dimple Jackets. A thin external shell is affixed to the vessel shell with spot welds located in
a regular pattern, often about 50 mm on center both horizontally and vertically. These so-
called dimples impart turbulence to the heating or cooling media as it flows through the
jacket.

Dimple Jackets

Plate Coils. Often very similar to dimple jackets, but fabricated separately as fully contained
jackets that are then strapped to a vessel. They are slightly less efficient than dimple jackets
because there is a double layer of metal for the heat to traverse (the plate coil inside surface
and the vessel shell). They also require good bonding to the vessel jacket, to prevent an
insulating gap between the plate coil and the vessel.

Plate Coils
Columns

A fractionating column or fractionation column is an essential item used in distillation

of liquid mixtures so as to separate the mixture into its component parts, or fractions,
based on the differences in volatilities.

The vapors are brought into contact with the falling liquid and allowed to condense, to
achieve this separation.

Columns or Towers based on their internals are classified into two types namely
Packed Towers and Tray type Towers.

Packed Towers

As its name implies, the packed tower is a vertical, steel column which contains 'Beds' of
packing material which are used to bring the rising vapors into intimate contact with falling
liquid within the tower. The heat added to the mixture before entering the tower partially
vaporises the mixture and the vapours rise up the tower and begin to cool.

The liquid falls towards the bottom of the tower. At the tower bottom, in general, more heat is
added to the liquid by a 'Reboiler' which may be steam heated or a fuel fired furnace type.

The addition of heat here causes more vapours to rise up the column. As the two phases of
the mixture - falling liquid and rising vapour - come together, light components are stripped
out of the liquid and enter the gas phase while heavy components in the vapour are
condensed into the liquid phase.

In this way, as the vapour rises and gradually cools, it becomes lighter and, as the liquid
falls, it becomes hotter and heavier.

With this type of distillation column there is generally only a top and bottom product. The
quality of the products depends upon the height of the tower, the number of contacting
devices, the tower temperature and pressure and their control, and the velocity of the rising
vapours.

The type of packing materials used, also plays a part in the separation process. The packing
can be of such types as:

Ceramic Raschig Rings, Stainless Steel Pall Rings or Ceramic Saddles etc.

Tray Type Towers

This is also a tall, cylindrical column. Inside, a series of trays are placed, one above the
other. The trays are used to bring the rising vapour and falling liquid into intimate
contact. Tray towers do the same job as packed towers but they are very much more
efficient in the separation process than packed towers and, they are also more costly.
There are various types of tray in use and the type selected depends upon the degree of
 product purity required, the type of fluids, fluid velocity and other process parameters of
the system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82KHGne2TOw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaBMXgVBQKk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=par3tAK7VLg

Reactors

Reactors are used to carry out a chemical reaction in presence of a chemical bed
named catalyst that speeds up the reaction. The catalyst generally remains unaffected in
the process and can be regenerated.
Video showing common Columns and Reactors in Refinery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xzYf8IL_FE

Filters

As the name implies, these are used to filter the particles at micro level. Strainers are
used to filter comparatively large solid particles.

Diagram of simple filtration: oversize particles in the feed cannot pass through the lattice structure of
the filter, while fluid and small particles pass through, becoming filtrate.

There are various type of Industrial Filters. Commonly used ones among them are Bag
Filters andCartridge Filters.

Bag filters are best suited for applications where large solid particles are to be filtered
from a liquid. The liquid would flow through the bag and solid particles get caught in the
bag.

Filter Housing
 Filter Bags

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl8Y2S7MW28

Cartridge filter uses cartridges to remove sediment and harmful solids from liquid. Some
cartridge filters are designed to remove microscopic elements and some are designed to
stop larger particles from getting into the finished product.

Filter Cartridges

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxJ0Z04Eyuw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F67XjTS7QBw
Heat Exchangers

As the name implies, these equipment are used to transfer heat from hot fluid to cold
fluid. Based on their configuration, they are classified as follows.

Plate type Heat Exchangers. A plate heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger that
uses metal plates to transfer heat between two fluids. This has a major advantage over a
conventional heat exchanger in that the fluids are exposed to a much larger surface
area because the fluids spread out over the plates. This facilitates the transfer of heat,
and greatly increases the speed of the temperature change.

Plate Type Heat Exchanger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osrj5S_hnHA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpKIudyvYw8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv5p7o-7Pms

Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers. As the name implies, the equipment consists of one
shell and multiple tube inside the shell. The fluids flowing in the shell and the tubes
transfer heat between each other.
 Shell & Tube Heat Exchanger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JipA1cnmVZg

Double Pipe Heat Exchangers. As the name implies, there are two pipes (an outer pipe
and an inner pipe). The heat transfers from hot fluid to cold fluid through the wall of inner
pipe.
 Air Cooled Heat Exchangers. The Air-cooled heat exchanger is a device for rejecting
heat from a fluid or gas directly to ambient air. When cooling both fluids and gases, there
are two sources readily available, with a relatively low cost, to transfer heat to..air and
water.

Air Cooled Heat Exchanger

 CHAPTER-II PRESSURE VESSEL, COLUMN AND REACTOR DESIGN
Various Stress Theories

Stress is defined as resistance offered by a material to the force acting on it.

When the thickness of Vessel is small in comparison with other dimensions (Rm/t > 10),
vessels are referred to as membranes and the associated stresses are termed as
membrane stresses. These are average tension or compression stresses.

Membrane stresses are assumed to be uniform across the vessel wall and act
tangentially to its surface. The membrane or wall is assumed to offer no resistance to
bending.

In reality, pressure vessels are made of complex sections and hence a deviation from
true membrane set up bending in the vessel wall and cause the direct loading from point
to point.

The direct loading is diverted from more flexible to more rigid portions of the vessel and
this effect is called stress redistribution.

In any pressure vessel subject to internal or external pressure, the state of stress is tri
axial and the three principal stresses are,

1. Longitudinal/ meridional stress (L)

2. Circumferential/ latitudinal stress or Hoop Stress (H)
3. Radial stress(R)

Radial stress is a direct stress which is a result of the pressure acting directly on the wall
and causes compressive stress equivalent to pressure. In thin walled vessels, this stress
 is so small compared to other principal stresses and is generally ignored. Thus, we
assume for the purpose of analysis, the state of stress is biaxial.
For thick walled vessels (Rm/t < 10), the radial stress cannot be ignored and formulae
are quite different.

ASME Sec VIII Div.1 deals with bi-axial state of stress mostly and considers a very high
safety factor, whereas the safety factor is less in ASME Sec VIII Div.2.

Allowable stresses as per various design codes are as follows:

ASME Section VIII Division 1: S = smaller of: UTS / 3.5 or Yield / 1.5
ASME Section VIII Division 2:Sm = smaller of: UTS / 2.4 or Yield / 1.5
EN 13445: f = smaller of: UTS / 2.4 or Yield / 1.5
PD 5500: f = smaller of: UTS / 2.35 or Yield / 1.5

Maximum Stress Theory

ASME Sec VIII Div.1 follows this theory as basis. This theory simply asserts that the
breakdown of the material depends on the numerical magnitude of maximum principal
stress or normal stress. Stresses in other directions are disregarded.

This theory considers biaxial state of stress and is suitable for thin walled vessels.
However, ductile materials often fail along lines 45 to the applied force by shearing,
long before the tensile or compressive stresses are maximum.
 Maximum Shear Stress Theory

This theory asserts that the breakdown of material depends only on the maximum shear
stress attained in an element. It assumes that yielding starts in the plane of maximum
shear stress. ASME Sec VIII Div.2 is based on this theory.

Components of Pressure Vessels and Fabrication Methods

The components of a Pressure Vessel are divided into pressure parts and non-pressure
parts. Design Code deals only with pressure parts and non-pressure parts are designed
based on various handbooks.

Various Pressure parts in a Pressure Vessel are as follows.

Shell

Shell is either cylindrical or spherical in shape and is a major component of a vessel.

Shell is either fabricated from a plate material by means of rolling or directly a pipe
based on size.
 A pipe shell is used commonly upto 16 or 20, above which shells are fabricated
from plates. However, higher size pipe shells can also be used based on the cost
economy.

When a pipe shell is used, 12.5% under tolerance to be considered in design based
on the pipe standard. So, the minimum thickness considered in un-corroded
condition would be nominal thickness x 0.875.

Circumferential welding between two shells, shell to dish end and shell longitudinal
seams are butt welds.

Heads or Dish Ends

These are end closures of pressure vessel, attached to the shell. These also form a
major part of pressure vessels.

Based on their shapes, dish ends are classified into five type viz. Ellipsoidal,
Torispherical, Hemispherical, Conical and Toriconical Dish Ends.

Ellipsoidal Head:This is also called a 2:1 elliptical head. The shape of this head is
more economical, because the height of the head is just a quarter of the diameter. Its
radius varies between the major and minor axis. This can withstand high pressures
when compared to Torispherical heads.

Torispherical Head:These heads have a dish with a fixed radius (CR), the size of
which depends on the type of Torispherical head. The transition between the cylinder
and the dish is called the knuckle. The knuckle has a toroidal shape.F&D heads are
for low pressure applications. Typically they are not used on a vessel with over 75
psi design pressure. Also nozzles supporting pumps, agitators, etc. should not be
located on F&D heads.F&D heads have smaller knuckle radius and high nozzle load
could cause head buckling.

Hemispherical Head:A sphere is the ideal shape for a head, because the pressure
in the vessel is divided equally across the surface of the head. The radius (R) of the
head equals the radius of the cylindrical part of the vessel. These heads are used for
high pressure applications especially when the thickness is greater than 75 mm.
 Conical and Toriconical Head: As the name implies, a conical head is a cone in
shape. When the stresses are high at the large end, the conical heads have a
knuckle, in which case those are called Toriconical heads.

Longitudinal seams in Dish End and Shell to Dish End welds are butt welds.

When the dish end is of very large size, then the dish end is formed using one crown
and various petals, in which case, dish ends are called crown and petal dish ends.
 Nozzles and Reinforcement Pads

Any opening made on a vessel shell or head is called nozzle. A small pipe is
attached to the opening to carry the process fluid.Nozzles are usually attached to
vessel by means of fillet and groove welds.

When a vessel wall is opened, the area lost in the opening shall be compensated by
adding material. This compensations is usually offered by excess thickness available
in shell, nozzle and welds. Despite compensation from all these components, if the
nozzle is still not adequately reinforced, then material is added in the form of a
reinforcement pad.Reinforcement pads are usually fillet and groove welded to shell.
 When nozzle is adequately reinforced without necessity of a pad, the nozzles are
called self-reinforced nozzles.

In services where reinforcement pads are not allowed or not feasible, hub type
nozzles are used to provide higher wall thickness for reinforcement. These nozzles
have a hub which is of higher thickness, a transition and a neck for welding with
flange.

In lethal services, where 100% radiography is required, lip type nozzles butt welded
to shell are used as radiography is possible only in butt welded joints.
 Based on nozzle insertion into vessel wall, the nozzles are classified into two types
namely set-on or abutting nozzle and set-in or inserted nozzle.

In set-on type nozzle, the nozzle abuts on the vessel wall and is not completely
inserted. This is usually not preferred due to less strength and is not used unless
permitted per project specifications.

In set-in type nozzle, the nozzle wall is completely inserted into the vessel wall and is
preferred type as this offers more reinforcement to the opening.

Nozzles Flanges and Types

 Flanges are connection elements that connects the nozzle pipe on the equipment
with piping by means of bolting.

Pipe Flanges NPS to NPS 24 are covered under standard ASME B 16.5 and
flanges over NPS 24 to NPS 60 are covered under ASME B16.47.

ASME B 16.47 provides dimensions for two series of flanges namely A and B.
Series B flanges are generally used in Oil & Gas Industries.

Standard flanges are chosen based on pressure temperature ratings and these
ratings differ based on Materials of Construction.

Available flange ratings as per ASME B16.5 are 150#, 300#, 400#, 600#, 900#,
1500# and 2500#.

Available flange ratings as per ASME B 16.47 are 75#, 150#, 300#, 400#, 600# and
900#.

Commonly used flange ratings are 150#, 300#, 600# and 900#.

Based on connection of flange with pipe and purpose, they are classified as
Threaded, Socket-welding, Slip-on welding, Lap joint, Weld neck and Blind flanges.

In a threaded flange, as name implies, pipe is connected to flange by means of

thread. This type of connection is prone to leakage is threads are broken and is not
preferred for high pressure application.

In a socket welded flange, the pipe is inserted into the flange socket and welded.
This type of connection is used in small sized pipes and are not used for high
pressure applications.
 A lap type flange is a loose flange with a stub on the nozzle to facilitate the rotation
as desired. If flange is welded to pipe, rotation of flange independent of pipe is not
possible. For example, in a titanium equipment, the nozzle is made of titanium
material which is very costly. But, when a titanium stub is provided at the end of
nozzle, carbon steel lap type flanges may be used and rotated as desired. The stub
end acts as gasket face and the fluid does not contact the flange.
 A slip on welding flange is used for higher pressure when compared with above type
of flanges, however not better than weld neck flanges. Here, the pipe is inserted into
the flange hub and fillet welded to the flange.

A weld neck flange has a weld neck which is butt welded to the pipe. Due to gradual
change in the area, the stress distribution is even and is suitable for higher
pressures.
 A blind flange is bolted to pipe flange in order to keep the opening sealed. For
example, man ways are used for entry into vessels during maintenance and are
sealed during operation. Blind flange is used for this purpose.