Design of Pressure Vessel

By A.B.Solanki
INTRODUCTION [1]

Vessels, tanks, and pipelines that carry, store, or receive fluids are
called pressure vessels.
A pressure vessel is defined as a container with a pressure
differential between inside and outside.
The inside pressure is usually higher than the outside, except for
some isolated situations.
Pressure vessels often have a combination of high pressures
together with high temperatures.
Because of such hazards it is imperative that the design be such
that no leakage can occur.
Pressure vessels and tanks are, in fact, essential to the chemical,
petroleum, petrochemical and nuclear industries. It is in this class of
equipment that the reactions, separations, and storage of raw
materials occur.
Pressure vessel
Function
Storage tank
Process vessel
Heat Exchanger
Geometry
Cylindrical
Spherical
Conical
Horizontal/Vertical
Construction
Monowall
Multi Wall
Forged
Service
Cryogenic
Steam
Lethal
Fired/Unfired
CLASSIFICATION OF PRESSURE VESSEL [3]
COMPONENTS OF PRESSURE VESSELS
The main components of pressure vessel are [4]
i. Shell
ii. Heads
iii. Nozzles
iv. Stiffening rings
v. Supports

Photo courtesy: www.theculminates.com
Shell
The shell is the primary component that contains the
pressure.
Pressure vessel shells are welded together to form a
structure that has a common rotational axis.
Most pressure vessel shells are cylindrical, spherical and
conical in shape

Head
All pressure vessel shells must be closed at the ends by
heads (or another shell section).
Heads are typically curved rather than flat.
Curved configurations are stronger and allow the heads to
be thinner, lighter, and less expensive than flat heads.
Heads are usually categorized by their shapes.



Fig: Different types of heads.
(Modified from ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, ASME, New York.)
Support
The type of support that is used depends primarily on the size
and orientation of the pressure vessel.
the pressure vessel support must be adequate for the applied
weight, wind, and earthquake loads.
Typical kinds of supports are as follow:
a. Skirt
b. Leg
c. Saddle
d. Lug




Photo courtesy: www.pressurevesslesconsulting.com
Saddle
Leg
Skirt
Lug
Figure showing various
pressure vessel supports.
Nozzle
A nozzle is a cylindrical component that penetrates the shell or heads of a
pressure vessel.
The nozzle ends are usually flanged to allow for the necessary connections
and to permit easy disassembly for maintenance or access.
Nozzles are used for attaching piping for flow into or out of the vessel and
attach instrument connections, (e.g., level gauges, thermowells, or
pressure gauges).

Stiffener Rings
Rings made of flat bar or plate or structural shapes welded around the
Circumference of the vessel.
These rings are installed on vessels operating under external pressure to
prevent collapse of the vessel.
Photo courtesy: www.pressurevesslesconsulting.com
Major Failures associated with pressure vessel can usually be classified as 5 types :
1. EXCESSIVE ELASTIC DEFORMATION
It is a type of expansion of vessel till limit of proportionality.
It affects the volume and density of fluid inside the vessel, hence the purpose of
the vessel will fail and effect the process. So excessive elastic deformation is
undesirable.
2. PLASTIC INSTABILITY :
Plastic deformations occur in a pressure vessel if the Internal or external pressure
becomes so high that resultant stresses acting on the pressure vessel exceeds the
yield point.
Elastic instability in vessels is usually associated with the use of thin shells.
Plastic instability
3. BRITTLE RUPTURE :
If the material used for the vessel is brittle than instead of plastic or elastic
deformation, vessel will ruptured instantly after increasing the slight load after yield
point.
Hence for brittle material stresses should be kept low below the yield point.


MAJOR FAILURES ASSOCIATED WITH PRESSURE
VESSELS

4. CREEP:
Creep is a failure of material due to constant loading and unloading of
material kept at one place for long time.
It arises due to periodic loading and loading. It starts initially from grain
boundary where abnormal grains are there.
It increases to cracks in the material after some time and finally material
fails on load much lower than the yield point stress.

5. CORROSION:
If excessive corrosion occurs than material thickness will decrease
constantly and after a certain limit the material will fail
Due to this the vessels are provided with corrosion allowance thickness.
Generally taken 3mm at inside boundary layer.
At outside some corrosion resistant material are used to prevent the
rusting.


SHELL UNDER INTERNAL
PRESSURE
Calculate internal
design pressure
P = Pi + Pliquid level

HOOP STRESS
Classical Equation


ASME CODE EQUATION



LONGITUDINAL STRESS
Classical Equation


ASME CODE EQUATION


Design of Thin Cylinders
In the design of thin cylinders the following assumptions are
made.

1.The curvature of cylinder wall ignored.

2.The tensile stresses induced at the cross section of the wall are
distributed uniformly.

3.Restraning effect of cylinder head is ignored.


15
Stresses in Pressurized Cylinders
Cylindrical pressure vessels, hydraulic cylinders, shafts with components mounted
on (gears, pulleys, and bearings), gun barrels, pipes carrying fluids at high
pressure,.. develop tangential, longitudinal, and radial stresses.
Wall
thickness
t
A pressurized cylinder is considered a thin-walled vessel if the wall
thickness is less than one-twentieth of the radius.
< 1/20
t
r
Thin-walled pressure vessel
Stress element
Small element
Tangential
stress o

Hoop stress
Longitudinal stress
o
l
(closed ends)
Radial stress
o
r

Stresses in Thin-walled Pressure Vessels (I)
) y 2 ( ) y 2 (
1
d r d t p = o
t
pr
=
1
o
(Hoop Stress)
) r ( ) rt 2 (
2
2
t = t o p
t
pr
2
2
= o
(Longitudinal Stress)
Design of thick wall Cylinder
Thick wall refers to a vessel having an inner-radius-to-wall-thickness ratio less than
10.
Thick wall:
10 <
t
r
i
Example of thick walled applications:
Gun barrel
Very high pressure hydraulic cylinder

For thick wall cylinder, o
R
(radial stress) no longer be neglected.
Introduction
Thick Cylinder wall subject to Internal
Pressure
Consider a thick walled cylinder with internal
pressure P
i
and external pressure P
o
. The
cylinder has inner radius r
i
and outer radius r
o
.

The stress analysis in thick cylinder can be
obtained using Lames Equation.
2
2
r
B
A
and
r
B
A
H
R
+ =
=
o
o
(1)
(2)
where A and B are constant which may
be found using the boundary conditions.
Thick cylinder
Boundary conditions
1. Internal and external pressure
at r = r
i
, o
R
= -p
i
(pressure being negative sign)
and r = r
o
, o
R
= -p
o
subtituting these values to equation (1) and (2), we get:
( )
( )
2 2
2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
) (
) (
) (
i o
o i o i
i o
o o i i
H
i o
o i o i
i o
o o i i
R
i o
o o i i
i o
o i o i
r r r
r r p p
r r
r p r p
r r r
r r p p
r r
r p r p
so
r r
r p r p
A and
r r
r r p p
B

=
o
o
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

=
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|

=
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1 1
1
1
1 1
1
1
r
r
k p
r
r
p
k
r
r
k p
r
r
p
k
i
o
o
i H
i
o
o
i R
o
o
Let the radius ratio r
o
/r
i
=k
then
Thick cylinder
2. Internal pressure only
If the external pressure is atmospheric only, p
o
= 0
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

=
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
2
2
2 2
2
2 2
2
2
2
2 2
2
2 2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
r
r
k
p
r
r
r r
r p
r
r
k
p
r
r
r r
r p
o i o
i o
i i
H
o i o
i o
i i
R
o
o
At the inner surface (where r=ri),
o
R
and o
H
each have their maximum magnitude.
o
R
=-p
i
(radial compressive stress)

At the outer surface (where r=r
o
)
1
2
0
2

= =
k
p
and
i
H R
o o
i
i o
i
i o
i o
H
p
r r
k
p
r r
r r
2 2
2
2 2
2 2
1

+
=

+
= o
Thick cylinder
Stress distribution for o
H
and o
R
internal
pressure
=p
i
1 2
3
-p
i
-1.5p
i
-p
i
-1.5p
i
o
H
o
R
Stress
Thick cylinder
Maximum shear stress in the cylinder
Maximum shear stress in the plane of the cross section is
given by,
2
2
max
1
2
|
.
|

\
|

=
r
r
k
p
o i
R H
o o
t
Thick cylinder
Example:
Given that:
P
i
= 20 MPa
P
o
= 10 MPa
R
i
= 100 mm
R
o
= 200 mm

Determine the hoop and radial stress at
radius 150 mm.


Thick cylinder
Solution:
2
2
r
B
A
and
r
B
A
H
R
+ =
=
o
o
2
) 1 . 0 (
20
B
A =
Boundary condition:
At r = 0.1, o
R
= -20 MPa

At r = 0.2, o
R
= -10 MPa

Therefore,

2
) 2 . 0 (
10
B
A =
(1)
(2)
Solve the equation (1) and (2) simultaneously, we get: :

A = - 6.7
B = 0.133

Thick cylinder
Substitute all the value A, B and r into the equation, then:

2
r
B
A
R
= o
2
r
B
A
H
+ = o
2
) 15 . 0 (
133 . 0
7 . 6 =
2
) 15 . 0 (
133 . 0
7 . 6 + =
= -12.6 MPa
= -0.79 MPa
Thick cylinder
Design of thick wall Cylinder
Thick Cylinder Subject to External
Pressure
Design of thick cylinder
Compound cylinder made from two
cylinders of different size and could be also
from different materials.

They are used to increased the pressure
that can be obtained in cylinders.

Method of fabrication:
Shrinkage
Force fit

Compound Cylinder
Compound Cylinder
The assembly (shrink fit)
Compound Cylinder
In a compound cylindrical shell, as shown in Fig. the outer
cylinder (having inside diameter smaller than the outside
diameter of the inner cylinder) is shrunk fit over the inner cylinder
by heating and cooling. On cooling, the contact pressure is
developed at the junction of the two cylinders, which induces
compressive tangential stress in the material of the inner cylinder
and tensile tangential stress in the material of the outer cylinder.
When the cylinder is loaded, the compressive stresses are first
relieved and then tensile stresses are induced. Thus, a compound
cylinder is effective in resisting higher internal pressure than a
single cylinder with the same overall dimensions. The principle of
compound cylinder is used in the design of gun tubes.
Compound Cylinder
The method of solution for compound cylinder constructed form similar
material is break the problem down into three separate effects:

(a) shrinkage pressure only on the outside cylinder
(b) shrinkage pressure only on the inside cylinder
(c) internal pressure only on the complete cylinder

Lames equation can be for both inner and outer cylinder.

For each of resulting load, there are two value knows of the radial stress.
Stress Calculation
BC1: shrinkage internal cylinder

At r = r
i
, o
R
= 0
At r = r
c
, o
R
= -p
c
Compound Cylinder
BC2: shrinkage external cylinder

At r = r
c
o
R
= -p
c
At r = r
o
, o
R
= 0

BC3: internal pressure complete cylinder

At r = r
i
o
R
= -p
i
At r = r
o
, o
R
= 0

For each condition, the hoop and radial stress at any radius can be
evaluated.

The various stresses are the combined algebraically to produce the stress in
compound cylinder subjected to both shrinkage and internal pressure.
Compound Cylinder
PRESTRESSTING OF THICK CYLINDER
PRESTRESSTING OF THICK CYLINDER
Method of Increasing Pressure
Capacity
COMPOUND CYLINDER

Autofrettage
In order to use the material effectively and achieve the
uniform stress distribution across the cylinder wall
thickness, the pre stressing is done to the cylinder
In pre stressing residual compressive stresses are
induced at the inner surface and tensile stresses at
outer surface.
When the cylinder is loaded in service the residual
compressive stresses at the inner surface begin to
decrease, become zero and finally become tensile as
the pressure is further increased.
Increase the pressure capacity.
Autofrettage
Overloading Portion of cylinder near the inner
diameter is subjected to stresses in plastic
range while outer portion still in elastic range.
When the pressure is released the outer
portion contracts exerting pressure on the
inner portion which has undergone
permanent deformation. This induces the
residua compressive stresses at the inner
surface and tensile stresses at outer surface.
COMPOUND CYLINDER
In a compound cylindrical shell, as shown in Fig. the outer
cylinder (having inside diameter smaller than the outside
diameter of the inner cylinder) is shrunk fit over the inner
cylinder by heating and cooling. On cooling, the contact
pressure is developed at the junction of the two cylinders,
which induces compressive tangential stress in the material of
the inner cylinder and tensile tangential stress in the material of
the outer cylinder. When the cylinder is loaded, the compressive
stresses are first relieved and then tensile stresses are induced.
Thus, a compound cylinder is effective in resisting higher
internal pressure than a single cylinder with the same overall
dimensions. The principle of compound cylinder is used in the
design of gun tubes.