PROCESS VESSEL FOR POLYMERIZATION OF

LINEAR LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Afrih M.A.M
110017T | Assignment 1
Plant and Equipment Design
CH3033
Introduction
This report has been prepared to design a polymerization pressure vessel according to given data
which is used to polymerize Ethene in to linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) under high
pressure. LLDPE and LHDPE are such a versatile material and which production procedure is more
expensive and harder than branch polymerization so design is more complicated one. The report is
included material selection, dimensions, fabrication and technical drawings of a pressure vessel
according to ASME internationally recognized standards.

Design and process data












Material selection
The material selection is the most important part during the pressure vessel design it should be vary
with process parameters, reactant, product and catalysts. When consider LLDPE polymerization where
Ziegler-Natta (Organometallic) is used as promoter catalyst, Due to hydrocarbon and Ziegler-Natta the
corrosion perspective is not that much considerable factor in the vessel material selection.
(low_density_poly_ldpe, 2014)


Ziegler-Natta
According to noncorrosive ( for safety reason) and temperature, ASME has been depicted group of
carbon steels which are more suitable for varying temperature and different allowable stress situation,
here below some groups of carbon steels can be use under 61-775
o
F range. (Henry H. Bendar, 1991)

SA285 gr C
Max.thickness
SA515 grUS 60,65,70
Max.thickness
SA516 all gr

Max.thickness
SA204 gr B
Max.thickness


Some other facts which are considered to select proper material
- Cost
- Strength requirement for design pressure and temperature
- Market availability
- Fabricability
- Quality of future maintenance
- Mechanical properties (creep, ductility, hardness, toughness etc)
The final material should be selected when its completed adequate level of above mentioned reasons.
Further study of material properties and other external facts, I have selected SA515 grade US 70
carbon steel for my pressure vessel design which is more favorable in this temperature and pressure
range. (ASME, 2004)
ASME 2004 SA515 grade US70 s mechanical and chemical properties























Design pressure and temperature
I. Design pressure
Maximum operating (absolute) pressure inside the pressure vessel is 10-12 kg/cm
2
(9.67-11.61
atm). Therefore,

P
internal
> P
external
and P
extenal
= P
atmosphere

P
design
= P
max.operating by gauge
+ 10% of P
max.operating by gauge

P
design
= 11.61 +1.161 = 12.771 atm =12.94 x 10
5
Pa

II. Design temperature
The vessel body is non-directly heated up to 60-70
o
C. Therefore,

T
design
=
Thighest temp of body
+ 10
o
C
T
design
= 70 + 10 = 80
o
C = 176
o
F


Wall thickness

According to Section VIII Div 1 UW-12 of ASME standard butt joint (joint category A) welded as
double V groove method and its efficiency is 0.7 (Assume doesnt test weld using radiography).
Designed stress for SA516 gr70 is 138 MPa (< 260 MPa min.yield stress) at temperature 80
o
C
(Section II part D table 1A).

(ASME Section VIII Div 1, thickness should be design for hoop stress)
C :- Allowed corrosion thickness for carbon steel is 3mm

= 20 + 3 = 23.26 mm
(Allowable thickness for cylindrical shell under this stress)

Minimum thickness for pressure vessel

Therefore our calculated value 23.26 mm is much sufficient for this pressure vessel.

Head and closure

There several heads/ closures are used to design a pressure vessel end, some of examples are shown
in below figure and suitable head will be select according to the designed temperature and pressure.
Hemispherical head is more suitable for much higher pressure vessel but its economically high so
second favorable choice is torispherical or ellipsoidal head which are used under 15 bar condition.
Only if above mentioned heads can be apply when t/L 0.002

L :- Inside spherical or crown radius
(ASME Section VIII Div 1)

Therefore torspherical or ellipsoidal head can be applied on this vessel but final decision depends on
thickness.































a. Torispherical head thickness

L :- Inside spherical or crown radius
- butt joint as welded by Double full fillet lap join (joint category B)

= 3.56 mm + 2 mm (Corrosion allowable thickness)

= 4.57 mm



b. Elliptical head thickness

D :- Inside length of the major axis of an ellipsoidal head
- butt joint as welded by Double fullfillet lap join (joint category B)

= 20.12 mm + 2 mm

= 25.62 mm

When consider thickness of above mentioned head, Torispherical head is more suitable and cheaper
one. So I have used torispherical head for this pressure vessel. (Henry H. Bendar, 1991)

For torispherical head design,

Crown radius = inside radius = 3.023 m
Knuckle radius = 6% of crown radius = 18.14 cm
Knuckle thickness should be more than 1/3 of crown spherical thickness



















81 . 21 ) (ln 67 . 4 ln
009378 . 0
138
294 . 1
06 . 0
023 . 3
1814 . 0
2
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
= = = =
design
design
design
design
design
design
P P
MPa
MPa
P
D
r
o o
o

Based on plastic analysis, following expression is used for t
2
2
4
2
2
ln 88783 . 1 44262 . 0 10 26879 . 0
ln 68299 . 15 4709 . 2 66299 . 0
93316 . 28 55246 . 4 26177 . 1 ln
|
|
.
|

\
|
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|

+
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|

+
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|
=

design
design
design
design
P
D
r
D
r
P
D
r
D
r
D
r
D
r
R
t
o
o

mm 6 . 2 3 t 0.0108 5286 . 4 ln = = =
R
t
R
t

This thickness of torispherical head is suitable for non-coded condition
But according to ASME 2004 Section VIII Div 1 4.57 mm is much enough.

For h
e
, there three equations are used to find head depth and minimum value will be consider as height.
m H
r
D
R
D
R R H
o o
512 . 0 )] 1814 . 0 2
2
023 . 3
023 . 3 ( )
2
023 . 3
023 . 3 [( 023 . 3
2
2 2
2
1
= + =
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

m
R
D
H
o
756 . 0
023 . 3 4
023 . 3
4
2
2
=

= =
m
r
D
H
o
88 . 2
1814 . 0 2
023 . 3
)
2
(
5 . 0
2
1
=
|
.
|

\
|

= =
Therefore consider H as 0.512 m,
Vessel nozzle design
25cm diameter nozzle was introduced at top and just below the top head of the vessel which is design
as same carbon steel. The nozzle was attached on vessel by using (joint type D) bevel groove welding
method.

t = 4.69 mm
503 006 . 0 023 . 3 = =
t
D
Fabrication
After theoretical calculation fabrication procedure will be make up imagined vessel to tangible
product. There are several steps to follow when fabricate cylinder shell, head and nozzle. Some
common steps have been briefly described below,
Cylinder shell
- Plat is sized and cut according to the height & the diameter of the cylindrical portion of the
vessel by using a proper cutting method i.e. oxy-acetylene flame or a laser beam.
- Crimping is the process which was done prior to the rolling process to reduce the out of
roundness. Material conservation can be increased by the process of crimping since it sets the
radius on the ends of the plate.
- Heating is done before the plate is moved to the rolling mill.
- Rolling is the process which meets the ends of the plate at proper diameter. Rollers should
work the plate to the proper radius.
- Welding is an important process involved in the fabrication process. When the plate is formed
into cylinder using rollers, several welding methods are used, earlier we had selected double
groove welding method to join butt joint.
- Heat Treating.
- Testing is done by using radiography or other methods.
Head/Closure
Torispherical head has been welded at top and bottom of the cylinder shell whose fabrication
procedure simply showing below,
- Carbon steel is selected with proper thickness.
- Procedures are occurred in the following order (Pressing, Spinning and welding)
- After its welded with cylinder by double V groove weld.

Nozzle
Nozzle also produced same as cylinder shell but thickness is smaller than cylinder, after it is attached
on prime vessel by using bevel groove welding method.



References

2004, A. (2004). ASME 2004 Section VIII & Section II. ASME.
(2014, 09 10). Retrieved from www.pslc.ws: http://www.pslc.ws/macrog/pe.htm
/polymers-an-overview. (2014, 09, 10). Retrieved from www.essentialchemicalindustry.org:
http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/polymers/polymers-an-overview.html#ziegler
low_density_poly_ldpe. (2014, 09, 10). Retrieved from www.autoclaveengineers.com:
http://www.autoclaveengineers.com/products/custom_applications/low_density_poly_ldpe/
pressure-vessel-steel-plate/asme-sa516-gr-70-astm-a516-gr-70.aspx. (2014, 09 10). Retrieved from
www.brownmac.com: http://www.brownmac.com/products/pressure-vessel-steel-plate/asme-sa516-
gr-70-astm-a516-gr-70.aspx
Henry H. Bendar, P. (1991). Pressure Vessel Design Hand book. Kriegar publishing company.
Scavuzzo, R. (200). Pressure Vessels. CRC press LLC.
Sinnott, R. K. (2005). Coulson & Richardsons CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Volume 6. Coulson & Richardsons.