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Siddhartha Mukherjee failure. It is also required in systems should be limited to about 50% of the
Lurgi India Company Ltd. where a continuous flow of vapor or set pressure.
liquid is suddenly stopped by a down- Pilot operated: In such valves, the
P
ressure relief systems are vital stream blockage. main pressure-relief valve opens
in the chemical process indus- While a full description of the vari- through a pilot valve. Pilot operated
tries (CPI) for handling a wide ous causes of overpressurization is be- valves are used in the following cir-
variety of situations. They are yond the scope of this article, details cumstances: 1) The pressure-relief-
used to prevent pressurization above are provided by API [1]. The following valve set pressure is lower than 110%
a system’s design pressure; for vent- is a partial list: of the operating pressure and 2) when
ing during an unusual or emergency • Blocked outlet high back pressures are applicable.
situation; and for normal depressur- • Failure of control valve The opening of the valve is indepen-
ization during a shutdown, as exam- • Cooling water failure dent of back pressure.
ples. In some cases, such as when non- • Power failure
combustible gases including steam, • Instrument air failure Rupture disks
air and nitrogen are used, venting into • Heat-exchanger-tube failure A rupture disk is a pressure reliev-
the atmosphere may be an option. In • External fire ing device that is used for the same
other cases, such as those typically en- purpose as a relief valve, but a disk is
countered in the hydrocarbon sector, Safety relief valves a non-reclosing device — or in other
elaborate systems for the disposal of There are several types of safety re- words, once it is open it will not close.
vented gases may be required. lief valves available on the market, This means that whatever is in the
This article describes some of the including the following. system will continue to vent until
causes of overpressurization, the Conventional: Conventional pres- stopped by some form of intervention.
types of valves and rupture disks sure-relief valves are susceptible to The following are the applications of
that are available and some of the back pressure. Such valves are not rupture disks [3]:
components needed for a pressure recommended when the total back For quick action: Rupture disks
relief system. Example calculations pressure exceeds 10% of the set pres- are very fast acting. Therefore, they
are given, as well as a list of instal- sure. For systems operating at pres- are used in cases where relief valves
lation considerations. sures close to atmospheric or at low may not be fast enough to prevent a
pressures, the limit of 10% is rarely catastrophic failure. Some engineers
Causes of overpressurization achieved. Therefore, these valves find prefer to use rupture disks to prevent
An overpressurization may result application mainly in high-pressure heat-exchanger-tube ruptures because
from a single cause or a combination systems, or in systems that relieve to they are concerned that pressure relief
of events. Typically, not all causes the atmosphere (for example, steam valves would be too slow to prevent
will occur simultaneously. In case of and air). pressure build-up scenarios.
an external fire in vessels that pre- Balanced bellows: Balanced pres- To prevent plugging of relief
dominantly handle vapors, such as sure-relief valves are used when con- valves: In certain processes, the pro-
knockout drums, there may be a rapid ventional pressure-relief valves can- cess fluid contains solid particles that
temperature rise in the metal accom- not be used because of the reasons may cause blockage within a relief
panied with a rise in pressure due mentioned above. Such valves are valve, rendering it useless. In such
to expansion. In case of external fire not susceptible to back pressures as cases, a rupture disk is normally used
in vessels that contain liquids, there high as 50% of set pressure. The valve upstream of the relief valve. Purified
will be a rise in pressure as the liq- opening is independent of the back terephthallic acid plants (PTA) is a
uid vaporizes. Pressure may also pressure. At higher back pressures, typical application example.
rise abruptly due to thermal expan- these valves will still relieve at the set Handling highly viscous liquids:
sion when a blocked-in pipeline or point, but with a reduction in capac- In systems handling highly viscous
other equipment containing a liquid ity. Therefore, it is recommended that liquids, such as polymers, depressur-
is heated. Relieving pressure under if balanced pressure-relief valves are ization through a relief valve may be
these situations is essential to prevent to perform as rated, the back pressure too slow for a given situation. A rup-
40 Chemical Engineering www.che.com November 2008
Unit 01 Unit 02 Unit 03
01-PSV-01
01-PSV-02
01-PSV-03
01-PSV-04
01-PSV-05
02-PSV-01
02-PSV-02
02-PSV-03
02-PSV-04
02-PSV-05
03-PSV-01
03-PSV-02
03-PSV-03
03-PSV-04
03-PSV-05
Flare stack
PSV-06
PSV-05
PSV-04
PSV-03
PSV-02
PSV-01
To main flare
Relief Valve Cooling External K.O. drum
Tag No. water failure fire
12,960 kg/h
14,076 kg/h
10,536 kg/h
12,870 kg/h
PSV-01 12,870 13,453
PSV-02 6,750
PSV-03 10,536 9,872
PSV-04 14,076 8,970 D 28,012 kg/h C 69,356 kg/h B 95,648 kg/h A
Unit flare
PSV-05 5,783
header
15,052 kg/h
16,732 kg/h
13,422 kg/h
PSV-06 12,960 11,423
Main flare
header
PSV-07 15,052 6,432
PSV-08 5,764
PSV-09 16,732 8,976
PSV-07
PSV-08
PSV-09
PSV-10
PSV-11
PSV-12
PSV-10 7,432
PSV-11 13,422 5,133
PSV-12 9,984
FIGURE 2. This sketch of a typical flare system is used as the basis for the sample
Total load 95,648
calculations explained in the given example
velocity cannot be ignored. A Mach drums protect against flame flash- than the overpressure, it will tend to
number in the range of 0.2–0.5 is back from the flare tip. The seal drum close the valve. Therefore, proper siz-
recommended. The third criterion should have a diameter of at least two ing of discharge pipes is very impor-
that should be checked is the change times the flare pipe diameter [1]. tant in such systems.
in density of flare gases along the Flare stack: Flare stacks are usually Discharge piping and manifolds
length of the flare header. In many elevated structures designed to burn are sized for the contingency that
cases where flare discharges are at flammable vapors. produces the largest relief load. Pipe
high temperatures, the flare gases sizing is carried out by working back-
cool down due to the length of the Relief system piping ward from the battery limit of the
flare header. This leads to an increase Inlet piping: The inlet piping from unit flare header up to the outlet of
in density and, correspondingly, a de- the protected equipment to the pres- individual, pressure safety valves.
crease in flowrates. Therefore, while sure relief valve should be sized to The superimposed back pressure of
estimating pressure drops in such prevent excessive pressure loss that the flare header at the battery limit
flare lines, it is a good idea to divide can cause chattering with consequent is defined. Thereafter, based on the
the header into sections and estimate reduction in flow and damage to seat- relief loads, pressure drop calcula-
pressure drops separately. ing surfaces. The recommended prac- tions are carried out to arrive at the
Main-flare knockout drum: In ad- tice is to limit the total pressure drop back pressure of the individual, pres-
dition to the unit-flare K.O. drum, a in the inlet piping to 3% of the safety- sure relief valves. In the course of
main-flare K.O. drum close to the flare valve set pressure [1]. The piping is the calculations, two parameters are
stack should be provided. This takes designed to drain towards the pro- checked for compliance:
care of condensation in the header tected vessel. • The Mach number at each pipe sec-
that results from atmospheric cooling. Discharge piping: In case of over- tion should not exceed 0.5
Similar to the unit-flare K.O. drums, pressurization in a vessel, the rel- • The back pressure at each safety
these drums are also sized to separate evant pressure-relief valve will start valve should not exceed 30–50% of
out liquid droplets of 300–600 microns to open at the set pressure. At this the set pressure
in size, and for holdup of 20–30 min [1] moment, the downstream pressure at The isothermal flow equation based
of liquid release. Pumps are installed the valve is the superimposed back on the outlet Mach number is given by
with the K.O. drum to transport any pressure of the system. The valve API [1]. This method calculates pres-
collected liquid to a safe location. The keeps opening as the pressure builds sure buildup backward up to the out-
pumping capacity should allow the up. The resultant flow creates a built- let of relief valves, thus avoiding the
liquid holdup to be emptied in 15–20 up back pressure on the discharge need for trial and error methods:
min. When congealing liquids are in pipe. As long as the built-up back
use, the drums should be provided pressure is less than the overpres-
with steam coils [2]. sure after the valve opens, the valve
Seal drum: Seal drums are located will remain open and perform satis-
close to the flare stack or are sometimes factorily. If however, the built-up back (1a)
integral with the flare stack. These pressure develops at a rate greater or,
42 Chemical Engineering www.che.com November 2008
Table 2. Flare Discharge Piping Calculations
Segment Set Line Line Flow- Pres- Den- Rough- Pipe No. of No. of No. of Pres- Pres- % of Mach
pres- size size rate sure sity ness length tees valves elbows sure sure set no.
sure P2 factor P1 P1 pres-
sure
kg/ m in. kg/h kg/ kg/m3 mm m kg/ kg/
cm2g cm2a cm2a cm2g
A to B 0.30 12 95,648 1.5000 4.2899 0.1 15 0 1 0 1.6234 0.5904 0.4004
B to PSV-01 5.0 0.10 4 12,870 1.6234 4.6428 0.1 30 0 1 3 2.7780 1.745 34.9 0.4480
B to PSV-11 5.0 0.15 6 13,422 1.6234 4.6428 0.1 30 0 1 3 1.8282 0.7952 15.9 0.2077
3/4"
Bleeder valve Isolation
valves Blind
Bypass
line
Inlet
piping
Protected vessel
THE REFERENCE
valves are needed to prevent an unsafe
condition
Relief valve
FOR
Pressure
two (Figure 5). The reason for this gage
is that in case of a pin-hole leak in
the disk, vapors from the protected Protected
HYDROGENATION
equipment would pass through to vessel Rupture disk
the section between the disk and
the safety valve. After some time,
the pressures upstream and down-
stream of the disk would be the same BIAZZI is specialized in hydro-
and the disk would never burst
• The unit and the main flare header genation and other gas-liquid
FIGURE 5. When a rupture disk is
should slope towards the main,
flare-header K.O. drum. This is to
installed upstream of a pressure relief reactions. Reactors and com-
valve, a pressure indicator is needed be-
ensure that condensed vapors, if tween the two plete plants from 10 litres to
any, do not back up and accumulate
immediately downstream of the Author 50 m3 and from 5 to 250 bar.
safety valves ■ Siddhartha Mukherjee is the
Edited by Dorothy Lozowski group leader – process, at Lurgi Full scale-up guarantee for
India Company Ltd. (A-30,
References
Mohan Cooperative Industrial
Estate, Mathura Road, New any plant size.
Delhi 110 044, India. Phone:
1. A Guide for Pressure-Relieving and Depres- +91–11–4259–5365; Fax:
surizing Systems, API Recommended Prac- +91–11–4259–5051; E-mail:
tice 521, American Petroleum Institute, 4th
ed., March 1997.
2. Process Design and Operating Philosophies
siddhartha.mukherjee@lurgi.
com). For the past eight years,
he has been involved in a lead
www.biazzi.com
role in the design, precom-
on Pressure Relief and Disposal Systems, missioning and commissioning of chemical and
Oil Industry Safety Directorate, OISD- petrochemical plants in India and elsewhere. He
Standard-106, Government of India, August has also been involved in inorganic and olech-
1999. emistry while at Lurgi. Prior to this, Mukher-
3. Leckner, Philip, Rupture Disks for Process jee worked as an environmental engineer with
Engineers Part-1, www.cheresources.com/ Development Consultants Ltd. (Kolkata), doing
asiseeit3.shtml various environmental assessment projects in-
4. Sizing, Selection and Installation of Pres- volving thermal power plants. Mukherjee earned
his B.Tech. and Ph.D. Ch.E. degrees from the
sure - Relieving Devices in Refineries, Part
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He PROJECT S AND PL ANT S
II – Installation, API Recommended Practice
520, American Petroleum Institute, 4th ed., holds lifetime memberships in India’s Institute
of Engineers and the Indian Institute of Chemi-
FOR THE CHEMIC AL INDUS TRY
December 1994.
cal Engineers.
BIAZZI SA - CH-1816 Chailly/Montreux - Switzerland
Circle 33 on p. 66 or go to Phone: + 41 21 989 21 21 - Fax: + 41 21 989 21 20
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