CHAPTER 6 Pressure (Welded) Vessel Design

Pressure Vessel is a closed vessel having an internal pressure between 15 psig to 3000 psig (Perry and Green, 1997). Whereas, atmospheric and low pressure tanks are designed to operate at pressures between atmospheric to 0.5 psig, and, 0.5 to 15 psig respectively (Kohan, 1987). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code contains rules for the design, fabrication and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels. ASME Code is acceptable in most of the States in the US and all Canadian provinces. Section VIII Division I of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code deals specifically with pressure vessels. Most pressure vessels used in the process industry in the US are designed in accordance with the specification of this section. Pressure vessels may include reflux drum, storage tanks, heat exchangers, chemical reactors, distillation columns, absorption tower, stripping columns and many more.

SHELL THICKNESS In general, the minimum wall thickness of welded metal plates subject to pressure, excluding corrosion allowances, should not be less than 2.4 mm (Peters et al., 2004). To provide for the vessel sufficient rigidity especially at low pressures, the minimum wall thickness at different cylindrical shell diameters should be (Seider, 2004). Vessel inside diameter (ft) Up to 4 4-6 6-8 8-10 10-12 Minimum wall thickness (inch) 5/16 3/8 7/16 1/2

In practical designation, the shell is considered thin if the ratio of circumferential radius of curvature to wall thickness is greater than 10. Many pressure vessels are relatively thin, having radius of thickness ratio between 10 to 500 (Bhaduri, 1984). Shell Thickness Working Equations The needed Shell thickness of pressure vessels is a function of the ultimate tensile strength of the metal at operating temperature, operating pressure, vessel diameter and welding joint efficiency (Peters et al, 2004). In the recent American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code (VIII-I), the working equation for the determination of shell thickness of cylinder subjected to internal pressure based on inside diameter is given as:

tp

PR C SE 0.6 P

eq 6-1

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

where tp = shell thickness required (inch) [m] P = Internal gauge pressure (psig) [kN/m2] R = Inside Radius (inch) [m] S = Allowable stress (psi) [kN/m2] E = Joint efficiency factor (Table 6-4) C = Corrosion allowance (inch) [m] Provided that 1. 2. tp less than or equal to

R 2

and

Pressure is less than or equal to 0.385 SE (Jawad and Farr, 1988).

Alternative ASME equation based on outside diameter of a cylindrical shell is given as:

tp

PR C SE 0.4 P

eq 6-2

ASME Pressure Vessel Code formula excludes corrosion, wind and earthquake allowances (Mulet, 1981) as cited by (Seider, 2004). The recommended wall thickness, tv, requirement of vertical pressure vessel or tower incorporating wind load based on wind velocity of 140 miles/hr, which is substantially sufficient to handle additional earthquake load is, tv = tp [ 0.75 + 0.22 E ( L/Di)2/Pd } eq 6-3

The above equation is applicable for 10 > ( L/Di)2/ Pd > 1.34 If the ratio is less than 1.34, then tv = tp

Table 6-1. Design equations and data for pressure vessels based on the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel/Code. Adapted from ASME as cited by Peters et al., 2004. Recommended design equations for vessels Under internal pressure Limiting conditions For cylindrical shells
t Pri SE J - 0.6P Cc

t
1/2

SE J ri SE J

P P

ri

Cc

or P

ri 2 0.385SE J

For spherical shells

Pri SE J - 0.2P ri 2SE J 2SE J 2P P

Cc
1/3

or P

ri 2 0.385SE J

ri

Cc

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

For ellipsoidal head

t or P

0.356ri 0.665SE J

PD a 2SE J - 0.2P

Cc
0.5 (minor axis) 0 = 0.25Da

For torispherical (spherically dished) head

0.885 PL a SE J - 0.1P

Cc
r = knuckle radius = 6% of inside crown radius and is not less than 3t

For hemispherical head Same as for spherical shells with ri = La ***Nomenclature for Table 6-1
a = 2 for thickness <0.0254 m and 3 for thickness 0.0254 m Cc = allowance for corrosion, m Da = major axis of an ellipsoidal head, before corrosion allowance is added, m EJ = efficiency of joints expressed as a fraction IDD = inside depth of dish, m La = inside radius of hemispherical head or inside crown radius of torispherical head, before corrosion allowance is added, m n = 1.2 for D 1.55m, 1.21 for D = 1.55-2.0 m, 1.22 for D = 2.0-2.7 m, and 1.23 for D > 2.7 m OD = outside diameter, m P = maximum allowable internal pressure, kPa (gauge) r = knuckle radius, m ri = inside radius of shell, before corrosion allowance is added, m S = maximum allowable working stress, kPa 3 t = minimum wall thickness, m = density of metal, kg/m + See the latest ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code for further details.

Shell Wall thickness for vacuum vessels may be calculated (Kalis, 1986) with this equation

Pc

T 2.6 e Do Te Do

Em
0.5

T 0.45 e Do

eq 6-4

where Pc Te Do Em = Collapsing pressure (psi) = Thickness to withstand external pressure (inch) = Outside diameter (inch) = Materials modulus of elasticity

Te must be high enough so that Pc is five times greater than the difference between atmospheric pressure and design vacuum pressure

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

Mulet et al , 1981, as cited by Seider, 2004, presented an alternative equation for the calculation of cylindrical wall thickness at vacuum, tE,

tE = 1.3 ( PdL/EMDo ) 4
a correction factor is added ,tEC

eq 6-5

tEC = L ( 0.18Di-2.2 ) x 10 -5- 0.19

eq 6-6

Thus, the wall thickness of vessels at vacuum incorporating wind and earthquake loads is,

tV = tE + tEC
tp = wall thickness (for internal pressure) Di = inside diameter L = cylindrical shell length Pd = internal design gauge pressure S = maximum allowable stress
lb in 2

eq 6-7

E = fractional weld efficiency Po = operating gauge pressure tv = wall thickness of vessels or tower incorporating wind and earthquake loads tE = wall thickness of vessel or tower @ vacuum tEC = correction added to tE, , (tV = tE + tEC) To include corrosion allowance, tc, Seider (2004) recommended 1/8 inch for noncorrosive conditions. Backhurst and Harker (1973) recommended 1/8 up to 3/16 corrosion allowance for noncorrosive and for corrosive environments.

ts = tV + tc
where

eq 6-8

ts = cylindrical wall thickness incorporating wind, earthquake and corrosion allowances.

For Spherical Shell, ASME code as cited by Kohan (1987) provide for equation to calculate the maximum allowable internal working pressure.

P
where P R tp E S = = = = =

SEt p R 0.2t p
eq 6-9

internal working gauge pressure (psig) Inside Radius (inch) Minimum required thickness (inch) Lowest joint efficiency Max allowable stress (psi)

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

Material of Construction In a noncorrosive environment, carbon steel and low alloy steel are commonly used material of construction for pressure vessel at low temperature (-20 to 650oF) and high temperature (650 900oF) respectively. Carbon steel, SA 285 grade C has a maximum allowable stress of 13,750 psi, while a low alloy steel, SA 387B has a maximum allowable stress of 15, 00 psi (Seider, 2004). Stainless steel 304 and 316 also known materials for pressure vessel (Peters et al., 2004). Stainless steel 300 series could even be used up to 1,500oF (Perry and Green, 1997). Maximum allowable stress varies from material to material and design temperatures. Tables 6-2 and 6-3 show maximum allowable stress of different pressure vessel materials. Table 6-4 shows modulus of elasticity for carbon steel and low allow steel at different temperature (Seider, 2004). Table 6-2. Recommended stress values. Adapted from ASME as cited by Peters et. al., 2004. Recommended stress values Metal Temp., C S, kPa Joint efficiencies For double-welded butt joints If fully radiographed = 1.0 If spot-examined = 0.85 If not radiographed = 0.70 In general, for spot examined If electric resistance weld = 0.85 If lap-welded = 0.80 If single-butt-welded = 0.60 Carbon steel (SA-285, Gr. C) -29 to 343 399 454 94,500 82,700 57,200

Low-alloy steel for resistance to H2 and H2S (SA-387, Gr. 12C1.1) High-tensile steel for heavy-wall vessels (SA-302, Gr.B) High-alloy steel for cladding and corrosion resistance Stainless 304 (SA-240) Stainless 316 (SA-240)

-29 to 427 510 565 649 -29 to 399 454 510 538

94,500 75,800 34,500 6,900 137,900 115,800 69,000 42,750

-29 343 427 538 -29 345 427 538 38 204 38 204

128,900 77,200 72,400 66,900 128,900 79,300 75,800 73,100 46,200 20,700 15,900 6,900

Nonferrous metals Copper (SB-11) Aluminum (SB-209, 1100-0)

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

Table 6-4. Modulus of elasticity values, EM for carbon steel and low-alloy steel as a function of temperature (Seider, 2004). Psi x 106 Temperature (F) -20 200 400 650 700 800 900 Carbon Steel 30.2 29.5 28.3 26.0 Low-alloy Steel 30.2 29.5 28.6 27.0 26.6 25.7 24.5

Recommended Design Pressure and Temperature Design pressure used in the calculation of wall thickness should always be greater than the operating pressure. Similarly, design temperature may be equal to operating temperatue plus 50oF. The following are recommended design pressures at different operating pressure (Seider, 2004);

Operating Pressure ,Po (psig)

Design Pressure ,Pd (psig)

0 -5 10 1,000 1,000 +

10 P= exp{0.60608+0.91615[ln Po] + 0.0015655 [ ln Po ]2 } 1.1Po

Welding Welding will heat the metal surrounding the welding area which could result in warping, shrinking of the welded area (Kennedy, 1982). It is for this reason that at times, stress relieving is required to release locked-up localized stresses. Stress relieving may be accomplished either by annealing or hammering. After welding, test are often employed to locate weld defects and other structural trouble inside the weld. Radiographing is often used to find these weld defects. Radiography is an inspection test where welded joints are exposed to x-ray to detect excessive porosity, defective fusion and other defects in the welding process (Kennedy, 1982). Weld efficiency, E, reflects the integrity of the welding. Carbon steel having thickness up to 1.25 inch requires only a 10% spot X-ray check where the weld efficiency is 85 %. However, for thicker walls, a 100% X-ray check is required, allowing a value of 100% efficiency (Seider, 2004). Longitudinal joints are more highly stressed than circumferential joints requires a minimum butt welding. Similarly, all vessels in lethal application shall have an all butt weld connection and fully radiographed. Also all vessels fabricated on carbon or low alloy steel requires post-heat treatment (Perry and Green, 1997). All welded joints of cryogenic tanks must be butt welded, postweld heat treated and X- ray examined (Kohan, 1987). Depending on the degree of radiograph examination used to check the integrity of the welded joint, and the type of welded joint, computation of wall

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

thickness of pressure vessel will have different joint efficiencies. ASME section VIII classifies radiographic examination as full radiography, spot radiography and no spot radiography. For double butt joint, the following are the corresponding efficiencies Full radiography Spot radiography No radiography 100% 85% 70 %

This decrease in joint efficiency from full to no spot radiography would result to a more shell wall thickness. Hence , as a rule, when welded joint efficiency is not known, assume a no spot radiography and use 70% joint efficiency if double butt joint is to be used (Kohan, 1987). This will provide for an allowance on wall thickness, but should later be check for the appropriate type of welded joint. Table 6-5 shows different type of welded joints and corresponding efficiencies and limitations (Jawad and Farr, 1988).

Figure 5-1. Welded Joint Categories.

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

Table 6-5. Maximum Allowable Joint Efficiencies1 for Arc and Gas Welded Joints. Adapted from Jawad, M. H., and J. R. Farr, 1988.
Typ e No. Joint Description Limitations Joint Category Degree of Radiographic Examination a b c Full Spot None

(1)

Butt joints as attained by double-welding or by other means which will obtain the same quality of deposited weld metal on the inside and outside weld surfaces to agree with the requirements of UW35; welds using metal backing strips which remain in place are excluded. Single welded butt joint with backing strip other than those included in (1)

None

A, B, C & D

1.0

0.85

0.70

(2)

(3)

4)

Single-welded butt joint without use of backing strip Double full fillet lap joint Double full fillet lap joint

Single full fillet lap joints with plug welds confirming to UW17 (5) Single full fillet lap joints with plug welds confirming to UW17

(6)

Single full fillet lap joints without plug welds

(a) None except as shown in (b) below (b) Circumferential butt joints with one plate offset, see UW13(c) and Fig. UW-13.1 (k). Circumferential butt joints only. Not over 5/8in. thick and not over 24in outside diameter longitudinal joints not over 3/8in. thick circumferential joints not over 5/8in. thick 2 (a) Circumferential joints for attachment of heads not over 24in. outside diameter to shells not over 1/2in. thick. (b) Circumferential joint for the attachment to shells of jackets not over 5/8in. in nominal thickness where the distance from the center of the plug weld to the edge of the plate is not less than 1-1/2 times the diameter of the hole for the plug. (a) For the attachment of heads convex to pressure to shells not over 5/8in. required thickness. only with use of fillet weld on inside of shells, or (b) For attachment of heads having pressure on either side. To shells not over 24in. inside diameter and not over 1/4in. required thickness with fillet weld on outside of head flange only.

A, B, C & D A, B & C

0,90 0.90

0.80 0.80

0.65 0.65

A, B & C

NA

NA

0.60

A B&C

NA NA

NA NA

0.55 0.55

NA

NA

0.50

NA

NA

0.50

A&B

NA

NA

0.50

1 E = 1.0 for butt joints in compression. 2 joints attaching hemispherical heads to shells are excluded .

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

Plate thickness increments It is noteworthy to emphasize that vessels fabricated from metal plates may be assumed to come in the following increments (Seider, 2004). Final vessel wall thickness is established by rounding off to the next increment. Metal plate thickness, inch 3/16 to 1/2 5/8 to 2 2 to 3 Increments, inch 1/16 /8

HESSE AND RUSHTON METHOD

In chemical engineering pressure vessel course, the classical book on Process Equipment Design authored by Hesse and Rushton (1975) has been in used as the course textbook. In the succeeding paragraphs, calculation methods, conditions and data were reproduced in toto from the said textbook. Shell Thickness Shell thickness of welded pressured vessel may be calculated using the given equation (Hesse and Rushton, 1975):

tp
where tp P D S e C

PD 2Se P

eq 6-10

= shell thickness (inch) = Max allowable working pressure (psi) = Inside diameter (inch) = Max allowable tensile stress (psi) (Table 6-6) = Efficiency of welded joint (Table 6-7) = Corrosion allowance

The above equation is applicable as long as the following conditions are met: 1. tp < 0.10D 2. tp > tmin

where

tmin

D 100 1000

eq 6-11

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

10

Table 6-6. Materials and Allowable Working Stresses for Unfired Pressure Vessels, Adapted from ASME-UPV Code by cited by Hesse, H.E. and J.H. Rushton, (1975) Process Equipment Design.
Specified Minimum Tensile Strength 1000 psi

ASME Code Spec. No.

Allowable Unit Tensile Stress, Thousands psi at Various Temperatures, F - 20 to 650 9.0 10.0 11.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000

Material Data and Description

Grad e A B A B A A A B B B C C A B

S-2 S-1 S-42 S-44 S-43 S-55

Steel plates - flange and firebox quality Carbon steel for boilers Carbon-silicon steel, ordinary strength range Molybdenum steel Low-carbon nickel steel Carbon-silicon steel, high strength range, 4-1/2 plates and under

45 50 55 60

8.8 9.6 10.4 10.4 11.4 13.0

8.4 9.0 9.5 9.5 10.4 13.0

6.9 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.1 12.5

5.7 6.0 6.3 7.2 7.4 11.5

4.4 4.4 4.4 5.6 5.6 10.0

2.6 2.6 2.5 3.8 3.8 8.0

2.0 2.0 5.0

65 13.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 15.0 15.0 85 12.3 14.0 13.3 13.3 15.0 14.1 11.1 14.0 11.9 11.9 15.0 12.4 9.4 13.5 10.0 10.0 14.4 10.1 7.6 12.0 7.8 7.8 12.7 7.8 5.6 10.2 5.6 5.6 10.4 5.6 3.8 8.0 3.8 3.8 8.0 3.8 2.0 5.0 2.0 2.0 5.0 2.0

S-44 S-43 S-55 S-44 S-43 S-28

70

75

Chrome-manganesesilicon alloy steel

Design Stress Design stress, S maybe estimated using the given equation:

S = Su x F m x F s x F r x F a
Where Su Fm

eq 6-12

Fs Fr Fa =

= Minimum Specified Tensile Strength = Material Factor Fm = 1 for Grade A material Fm = 0.97 for Grade B material Fm = 0.92 for Grade C material = Temperature Factor (Use Table 6-8) = Stress Relief (SR) Factor Fr = 1.06 When SR is applied Radiographing Factor Fa = 1.12 when Radiographing is applied and subsequent repair of defects

Note: Both Stress Relief and Radiographing factors are equal to unity when not applied on welded joints.

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

11

Welding may induce internal strain and stress on welded joints. In this case, stress relieving such as by annealing or hammering may be employed to release localized stresses. A 6% increase in the allowable design stress is allowed in some cases. Radiographing, on the other hand, is an application of X-ray on welded joints to examine defective fusion and other defects that may affect the integrity of the pressure vessel. If subsequent repair of a detected defect is done, a 12% increase in the allowable design stress may also be allowed. Stress relieving is mandatory for: 1. tp > 1 2. t p

D 50 (For thinner plates) 120

where D has a minimum value of 20 inches 3. ASTM A 150 4. ASTM A 149 (under certain conditions) Whereas, Radiographing is mandatory for 1. ASTM A 150 2. ASTM A 149 (under certain conditions) 3. Lethal gases application 4. Nuclear Reactor applications

Table 6-7. Types of Welded Joint and Corresponding Efficiencies.

EFFICIENCY LAP WELD (For circumferential Joint) Single Lap Single Lap with plug weld Double Lap BUTT WELD (For circumferential and longitudinal joints) Single Butt Single Butt with Back-up Strip Double Butt Double Butt with reinforce at center 70% 80% 80% 90% 55% 65% 65%

CRITERIA

tp < tp < tp >

tp < tp < 1 tp > 1 tp > 1

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

12

Table 6-7. Temperature Factor. Metal Temperature, F Up to 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 Plate and Forged Steel, % 25.0 23.7 21.0 18.0 15.0 12.0 9.0 6.2

Cast Steel, % 16.7 16.4 14.7 12.9 11.1 9.3 7.5 5.7

Adapted from Hesse, H.E. and J.H. Rushton, Process Equipment Design (1975)

Head Thickness To estimate head thickness requirement for pressure vessel with internal pressure load (concave), the following are the working equations for different head configurations. For external pressure load, thickness computed from internal pressure load is multiplied by 5/3. Standard Ellipsoidal

PD 2SE PD 4SE

Hemispherical

Standard Dished where

PLW 2SE

L = crown radius in inches = Do 6 Kr = knuckle radius = 0.06 Do

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

13

Values for W or dished heads Kr/L 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.18 0.19 0.20 0.25 0.50 1.0 W 1.8 1.7 1.65 1.6 1.55 1.50 1.47 1.44 1.41 1.40 1.38 1.37 1.35 1.32 1.30 1.25 1.12 1.0

For flat heads designed to permit fastening by means of lap joints with or without plug welds; the required head thickness is given by

0.3 P S

where t = is the head thickness d = is the inner diameter of the flanged head For flat heads which may be attached by single or double vee or V butt welds; the required head thickness is given by

0.25 P S

And for flat heads cut from a solid plate, the required head thickness is given by

0.5 P S

PRESSURE WELDED VESSEL DESIGN

14

Problem 1. Determine the thickness of a 10 meter diameter spherical tank at 300KPa and 27F. The material of construction is made of carbon steel. Use minimum corrosion allowance. Problem 2. A 12 in diameter S-2 Grade A steel has a working pressure and temperature of 500 psi and 300F respectively. Determine the type of weld to be used and plate thickness using Hesse and Rushton method. Problem 3. Grade A S2 steel, butt welded pressured vessel for lethal gas application has an inside diameter of 20 inches. If the working pressure is 900 psi and the working temperature is 250F, what is the shell thickness of the vessel? (Use minimum corrosion allowance and Hesse and Rushton method).