University of Khartoum

Faculty of Engineering
Chemical Engineering Department

PROCESS EQUIPMENT
DESIGN
ChE1105
Lecture 5
By
Lecturer : Asila A. M. Osman
DESIGN OF VESSELS SUBJECT TO COMBINED
LOADING

• Pressure vessels are subjected to other loads in addition to

pressure and must be designed to withstand the worst
combination of loading without failure.
• The main sources of load to consider are:
1. Pressure.
2. Dead weight of vessel and contents.
3. Wind.
4. Earthquake (seismic).
5. External loads imposed by piping and attached equipment.
 Primary stresses

The direct stress σw due to the weight of the vessel, its contents, and any attachments.

where W is the total weight which is supported by the vessel wall at the plane considered,
• Bending stresses resulting from the bending moments to which the
vessel is subjected. Bending moments will be caused by the
following loading conditions:
• (a) The wind loads on tall self-supported vessels .
• (b) Seismic (earthquake) loads on tall vessels .
• (c) The dead weight and wind loads on piping and equipment
which is attached to the vessel, but offset from the vessel centre
line
• For horizontal vessels with saddle supports, from the disposition of
dead-weightload
• The bending stresses will be compressive or tensile, depending on
location, and are given by:

• where Mv is the total bending moment at the plane being

considered and Iv the second moment of area of the vessel about
the plane of bending.
Torsional shear stresses resulting from torque caused by loads offset from the vessel axis. These loads will
normally be small, and need not be considered in preliminary vessel designs.
The torsional shear stress is given by:
Principal stresses

• The principal stresses will be given by:

Compressive stresses and elastic stability

• Under conditions where the resultant axial stress σz due to the

combined loading is compressive, the vessel may fail by elastic
instability (buckling)
• column design must be checked to ensure that the maximum value
of the resultant axial stress does not exceed the critical value at
which buckling will occur.
• For a curved plate subjected to an axial compressive load the
critical buckling stress σc is given by

• where Rp is the radius of curvature.

Loading
• The loads to which a vessel may be subjected will not all occur at the
same time. For example, it is the usual practice to assume that the
maximum wind load will not occur simultaneously with a major
earthquake.
• The vessel must be designed to withstand the worst combination of the
loads likely to occur in the following situations:
1. During erection (or dismantling) of the vessel.
2. With the vessel erected but not operating.
3. During testing (the hydraulic pressure test).
4. During normal operation.
 Weight loads

• The major sources of dead weight loads are:

1. The vessel shell.
2. The vessel fittings: manways, nozzles.
3. Internal fittings: plates (plus the fluid on the plates); heating and cooling coils.
4. External fittings: ladders, platforms, piping.
5. Auxiliary equipment which is not self-supported; condensers, agitators.
6. Insulation.
7. The weight of liquid to fill the vessel. The vessel will be filled with water for
the hydraulic pressure test; and may fill with process liquid due to misoperation.
• For preliminary calculations the approximate weight of a cylindrical vessel with
domed ends, and uniform wall thickness, can be estimated from the following
equation:
Wind loads (tall vessels)

• Wind loading will only be important on tall columns installed in

the open. Columns and chimney-stacks are usually free standing,
mounted on skirt supports, and not attached to structural steel
work. Under these conditions the vessel under wind loading acts
as a cantilever beam, Figure 13.19. For a uniformly loaded
cantilever the bending moment at any plane is given by:
Any local increase in the column area presented to the wind will give rise to a local,
concentrated, load, Figure 13.20. The bending moment at the column base caused by a
concentrated load is given by:

Dynamic wind pressure

The load imposed on any structure by the action of the wind will depend on the shape of the structure and
the wind velocity.
A wind speed of 160 km/h (100 mph) can be used for preliminary design studies;
equivalent to a wind pressure of 1280 N/m2 (25 lb/ft2).

The loading per unit length of the column can be obtained from the wind pressure by
multiplying by the effective column diameter: the outside diameter plus an allowance for
the thermal insulation and attachments, such as pipes and ladders.
• Make a preliminary estimate of the plate thickness required for the distillation column
• specified below:
• Height, between tangent lines 50 m
• Diameter 2 m
• Skirt support, height 3 m
• 100 sieve plates, equally spaced
• Insulation, mineral wool 75 mm thick
• Material of construction, stainless steel, design stress 135 N/mm2 at design temperature
• 200ŽC
• Operating pressure 10 bar (absolute)
• Vessel to be fully radiographed (joint factor 1).
Solution

Dead weight of vessel

Analysis of stresses
At bottom tangent line
Pressure stresses:

Dead weight stress: Bending stresses: