Sizing of De-Pressurisation Line for Hydro-Processing units

1.0) Introduction :
In the edition API RP 521 prior to 1997, the de-pressurisation in vapour phase has been envisaged only for the fire case. In the last edition of 1997, depressurisation in vapour phase has however been mentioned for both fire case and run away reaction. However the depressurisation device is not compulsory requirement as per API, though it represents one of the possible solutions to avoid wall temperature not attaining quickly the temperature at which mechanical rupture can occur. This is the solution normally adopted by the refiners. In the fire case the depressurisation line shall be considered whenever the reactor pressure is equal to greater than 17 bars g. It is to be noted that in the case of depressurisation of reaction section by a line situated in the top of High-pressure separator, it shall result in transfer of the liquid content in the reactor towards the separator at the time of depressurisation. The capacity of separator should be designed to receive this additional quantity of liquid. In case of depressurisation at the level of reactor, there is also possibility of disturbing the catalytic bed. So the reactor internals should also be calculated for the pressure drop resulting from de-pressurisation. This document gives some of the basic considerations and methodology for sizing a de-pressurisation line. This is a rough guide only. 2.0) Considerations for De-Pressurising line: a) De-Pressurisation in the fire case: The general rule is to install a system of depressurisation permitting the depressurisation in gas phase until 50% of the design pressure in 15 minutes for the equipments having an operating pressure greater than or equal to 17-bar abs. This rule is applicable to the equipments having wall thickness greater than 25 mm. For the vessels having a thickness less than 25 mm and for the vessels containing light hydrocarbon (C3-C5) the depressurisation will be done to 7 bars g (or 50% of design pressure whichever is lower) in 15 minutes. It is assumed that the fire continues during de pressurisation and that the feed has been stopped. In order to account for this phenomenon, contribution of heat due to the fire needs to be calculated. The depressurisation should permit evacuation of gas resulting from a) Vapourisation of liquid under the effect of heat. b) Reduction of density of the gas contained in the vessel due to the reduction of pressure in the vessel/equipment. c) Due to vapourisation of liquid resulting from pressure reduction. b) De-Pressurisation in the run away reaction case : This point has been considered in the 1997 edition of API RP 521. From API, the methodology for designing the relieving pressure in case of reaction run away shall be that of DIERS (Design institute for emergency relief systems). However normally de-pressurisation lines are normally designed for fire case only and very rarely for run away reaction case.

c) Duration of De-pressurisation: The duration of de-pressurisation has not been indicated in API. It is a function of criticality of process and the time, which could be tolerated by the shell of the reactor having a temperature where a mechanical rupture can occur. In order to arrive at the final value of pressure at the end of depressurisation, it can be considered that a) The units having light hydrocarbons for which normally the smaller of the following value is considered: 7 bar g or 50% of the design pressure of the reactor. b) For units such Hydrocracking normally either of the two rates of de-pressurisation are considered: 1) Manual de-pressurisation : 7 bars/min (which corresponds to approx 50% of design pressure in 15 minutes) 2) Auto de-pressurisation : 21 bars/min (which corresponds approximately to 7 bars g in 15 minutes) For Hydrocracking units sometimes there are 2 depressurising valves. The manual valve is designed for depressurisation of 7 bars/min. The automatic one is initiated by very high temperature in the catalytic bed and is designed for depressurisation rate of 21 bars/min. This valve can also be opened by pushing the button for manual intervention. d) Considerations for initial conditions at the time of De-pressurisation: 1) The volume of the fluid at the time of depressurisation should take into account the volume occupied by the catalyst and inert balls and excluding their void fraction. 2) The initial pressure of depressurisation is the relieving pressure of PSV at the location of the depressurisation line. e) Specifying De-Pressurising control valve: To calculate the maximum flow through the device of depressurisation, there are 2 possibilities : 1) A valve in which the Cv corresponds to the specified flow or 2) A valve having the diameter of the pipe in series with a restriction orifice specified for the required flow. The arrangement mentioned in case (2) i.e. valve in series with restriction orifice mentioned above is a better priority especially in case of fast depressurisations because of the variation in valve standard Cv can make an important difference in the speed of depressurisation.

3.0) Methodology of designing De-Pressurising line : The steps involved in providing process specification of de-pressurising line (for fire case only) are as under: 1) Identify the equipment from where de-pressurising shall be done 2) Calculate the PSV discharge pressure of that equipment. 3) Identify the connected equipment(s) whose contents shall also be depressurised through the de-pressurising line. 4) Calculate the total volume of all the connected equipment(s). 5) Calculate the liquid inventory in all the connected equipment(s). 6) Calculate the wetted surface area in each equipment(s) under the influence of flames. 7) Determine the depressurisation rate as per the criteria mentioned before. 8) Use the DEPR module in PRO-2 simulation software and take the maximum depressurisation flow rate from the software output. 9) From the flow rate and properties obtained from the simulation, size the depressurisation line. 1) Identifying the equipment : Normally de-pressurisation is done either from a separator for a HDS or Hydrocracking reaction loop and from distillation column top for distillation section. 2) Calculate the PSV discharge pressure of that equipment: Normally the discharge pressure of PSV is equal to 1.1 times the set pressure of PSV in case the precise data for the discharge pressure of PSV is not available. 3) Identifying the connected equipments to the PSV: In order to design line for fire case, the main assumption is as under: Surface of 250 m is considered for the fire, which has engulfed the equipments till a height of 8 m from the ground. Normally the following equipments are considered for reaction section of HDS/HCU units viz. Reactor, Heat exchangers (except air cooler), Separator & associated piping though this may vary sometimes according to the configuration of the unit. Air coolers are not considered for fire case, as they are normally located 8 m from ground level.

Note:
In general the exchangers do not need a safety valve to protect against fire and it is protected by a safety valve by interconnected equipments such as reaction section separator or distillation column. This is also true even if there is a manual isolation valve between the exchanger and PSV because we do not have to combine the probability of the manual isolation valve closing with fire. However in case of situations where there is a control valve for isolating the exchanger and PSV, a PSV specific for the exchanger should be considered. In case of exchangers with isolation valves and bypasses for permitting cleaning during operation of the unit, this presents a special case during fire. For this case two options can be considered in case of fire. a) Install a PSV specific for fire case. b) Put in place one procedure such that every time the exchangers needs to be isolated they should be immediately drained of their liquid and it should be open to atmosphere. This procedure should be clearly mentioned in operating manual & also in process scheme / PID.

4) Calculate the total volume of all the connected equipments: The volume of reaction section is equal to volume of reactor, separator & column (if any) multiplied by 1.5 (for all the above mentioned equipments) and subtracting the volume occupied by catalyst and inerts. 5) Calculate the liquid inventory in all the equipments: This is the volume of reactant / product present in the above equipments in liquid phase. For exchangers in which there is liquid phase, assume that the liquid volume fraction in each shell is equal to 50% (in absence of any other precise information). For separators consider the liquid inventory assuming that the liquid level is 50% between Normal High liquid level and Normal Low liquid level alarms. For reactors, which operate in liquid phase or in partial liquid phase, assume that it has around 30% liquid (in absence of any other precise information). For columns, consider liquid height at Normal High liquid level (NHLL) at column bottom and to it add 100 mm of liquid per tray, which shall be drained to the bottom. 6) Calculate the wetted surface area in each equipment under influence of flames: It is assumed that the fire has engulfed equipments upto a height of 8m from the ground level. So for all equipments, the wetted surface area shall be limited to area of equipment corresponding to a height of 8 m from ground level. As normally air coolers are at a height of 8 m from ground level, air coolers are not considered for calculation of wetted area. Consider the following norms for calculating wetted surface area for each equipment: 1) Exchanger: Estimate the area of shell, distribution box, and bottom from heat exchanger area, diameter and length of tubes. 2) Reactor: The wetted surface corresponds to a maximum elevation of 8 m. This wetted surface is considered only for the reactors, which has liquid or partially vapourised liquid. 3) Separator: Wetted surface corresponds to NHLL of liquid limited to a maximum height of 8 m. 4) Pipes: Take 10% of the total wetted surface area obtained from the above 3 items as piping surface area in the absence of precise information. 5) For column, consider height of 100 mm of liquid on each tray, which shall be drained to the bottom. To this add NHLL of liquid within a limit of 8 m of elevation from ground level. To the wetted surface area calculated, add 10% extra to account for interconnecting lines. In order to calculate the depressurisation rate, calculated the heat absorbed by every equipment. The heat absorbed is calculated by the formula, Q = 37000 FA^0.82 where A is the wetted surface area in m2, F=1 and the value of Q in Kcal/h. 7) Determining the rate of depressurisation: This has already been discussed under section 2.0. 8) Using DEPR module of Pro-II: The depressurisation rate is a function of time. In order to simulate this a dynamic simulation is required. DEPR module of Pro-II simulation software offers dynamic simulation of depressurisation in gaseous phase with the capacity to provide heat contribution. The contribution of heat is a function of wetted surface area calculated. Many depressurisation models are available and the model recommended by API is RP 520.

The composition of the fluid in the depressurisation line is considered to be that of the separator. The data to be entered in PRO-II are the following: a) FEED - Flow entering the separator at operating conditions b) DTIME - Duration of depressurisation, 15 minutes according to API. c) STEPTIME - No time for dynamic simulation (0.001 h) d) RELIEFVALVE Choice of flow regime in the valve. Choose SUPERSONIC. e) CONSTANT - Flow constant of the valve, proportional to Cv. This should be modified by the module. f) HEATMODEL - Choice of correlation for heat contribution calculation. Choose RP520, which corresponds to API recommendation. g) VOLUME, HOLDUP - Volume, Volume of liquid h) IWAREA Wetted surface subjected to flames. Create a CONTROLLER module for adjusting the valve constant in a way to obtain the required final pressure in the specified time. The PLOT of PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE in the OUTPUT file indicates the evolution of pressure and temperature as a function of time. The maximum flow through the depressurisation valve is obtained at initial instant (i.e. at Time=0). Based on this depressurisation flow rate size the depressurisation line.