What is a pressure vessel?
A pressure vessel is defined as a container with a pressure
differential between inside and outside.
Leak-proof containers designed to hold fluids at a pressure
substantially different from atmospheric under various
temperature conditions.
Vessels, tanks, and pipelines that carry, store, or receive fluids
are called pressure vessels.
Components of Pressure Vessel
Shell: The primary component contains the pressure.
Pressure vessel shells in the form of different plates are
welded together to form a structure that has a common
rotational axis. Shells are either cylindrical, spherical or
conical in shape.
Head or Cover: All the pressure vessels must be closed at
the ends by heads or covers.
Nozzle: A nozzle is a cylindrical component that
penetrates into the shell or head of pressure vessel.
They are used to attach piping for flow into or out of the
vessel, attach instrument connection (level gauges,
thermowells, pressure gauges) and to provide access to the
vessel interior at manway or to provide for direct
attachment of other equipment items (e.g. heat
exchangers).
Flanged Joint: When heads of PVs are to be of
detachable type, they must be provided with flanges, with
arrangement for bolting. Similarly, nozzles and piping
systems may also be provided with flanges.
The use of such bolted-flanged connections which are
readily removable, facilitate disassembly of different
components.
Support: Support is used to bear all the load of pressure
vessel, earthquake and wind loads.
There are different types of supports, which are used
depending upon the size and orientation of the pressure
vessel.
It is considered to be the non-pressurized part of the
vessel.
As per BIS (IS 2825:1969)
All vessels, pipe lines and the like for carrying, storing or
receiving steam, gases or liquids at pressures above the
atmospheric pressure.
The external branches and pipe lines covered by this code
shall terminate at the first point of connection by bolting,
screwing or welding to the connecting piping.
• IS 2825 code is for unfired pressure vessels, i.e. for vessels not
exposed to combustion or burner fire.
• Does not include vessels designed for pressure exceeding 200
kgf/cm2 and when ratio of OD to ID of the shell exceeds 1.5
Classification of vessels as per IS:2825
Class I:
That are to contain lethal or toxic substances — full
radiography is mandatory. Generally, double welded butt
joints are used.
Class II:
Many vessels used in chemical processing industries are
classified under this class. All longitudinal and
circumferential joints should be radiographed.
Class III:
Used for relatively light duties, having plate thicknesses
not in excess of 16 mm, built for working pressures not
exceeding 3.5 kgf/cm2 vapour pressure or 17.5 kgf/cm2
hydrostatic design pressure, at temperatures not exceeding
250°C and unfired.
Not recommended for service at temperatures below 0 °C.
General Design Considerations for Pressure Vessels
Design Pressure
For vessels under internal pressure, the design pressure is
normally taken as the pressure at which the relief device is
set. This will normally be 5 to 10 per cent above the
normal working pressure, to avoid spurious operation
during minor process upsets.
Vessels subject to external pressure should be designed to
resist the maximum differential pressure that is likely to
occur in service.
Design Temperature
The design temperature at which the design stress is
evaluated should be taken as the maximum working
temperature of the material, with due allowance for any
uncertainty involved in predicting vessel wall
temperatures.
Design of Shell
Shells subjected to Internal Pressure
Internal pressure generates:
Circumferential stress
Longitudinal stress
Both the stresses are tensile in nature
Circumferential stress being greater is taken as the
design stress.
The shell is generally formed by a joint in the
longitudinal direction, which is considered in terms of
joint efficiency.
The thickness of the cylindrical shell is given by:
Joint Efficiency Factor (J)
Joint Efficiency refers to the strength of a welded joint
with respect to the strength of the base metal.
It is a numerical value, which represents a percentage,
expressed as the ratio of the strength of a riveted, welded,
or brazed joint to the strength of the base material.
It is also a way to introduce safety factors in welding of
shells for containment
A Joint Efficiency of 1.00 indicates that the weld has the
same strength of the base metal, and it is assumed as if it
is seamless. Concurrently, an efficiency of 0.50 indicates
that the joint has half the strength of the base metal.
Welded Joints
Riveted Joints
Welded Joint Categories
Spherical Shell
Both the stresses are equal to the longitudinal stress
The thickness of the spherical shell is given by:
Corrosion Allowance
The “corrosion allowance” is the additional material
thickness over and above the thickness determined from
design conditions to allow for material lost by corrosion and
erosion, or scaling.
For carbon steel and cast iron parts, CA = 1.5 mm
Chemical industries where severe conditions are expected,
CA = 3 mm
For high alloy steels and non-ferrous parts under pressure,
no CA is necessary
When thickness is > 30 mm, CA is not necessary
Minimum practical wall thickness
There will be a minimum wall thickness required to ensure
that any vessel is sufficiently rigid to withstand its own
weight, and any incidental loads. As a general guide the wall
thickness of any vessel should not be less than the values
given below; the values include a corrosion allowance of 2
mm.
Cylindrical vessel under combined loadings
Other loadings like the weight of the vessel with its contents,
wind load, effect of offset piping, seismic forces, due to
supports, temperature, etc.
1) Stress in circumferential direction due to internal pressure
(tangential or hoop stress)
t = thickness from design equation excluding corrosion allowance,
i.e. corroded thickness
2) Stresses in the longitudinal or axial direction
a) Due to internal pressure
b) Due to weight of vessel and its contents (for vertical vessels)
c) Due to wind or piping in case of vertical vessels or due to weight
of vessel in case of horizontal vessels
M = bending moment due to loads normal to the vessel axis
2) Total Stress in the longitudinal or axial direction
fa = f1 + f2 + f3 (Tensile or Compressive)
3) Stress due to offset piping or wind
T = torque about the vessel axis
Offset Pipe
A bend in a pipe
A change in the direction of a pipeline (other th
an 90°), e.g., by a combination of elbows or bend
s, which brings one section of the pipe out of lin
e with but into a line parallel to another section.
Combining the above stresses on the basis of Shear strain
energy theory criterion, the resultant stress is
For satisfactory design, the following conditions must be
satisfied:
The axial compressive stress may cause wrinkling of the
shell. The safe compressive stress which can be imposed
without failure by wrinkling is given by
where E – modulus of elasticity
μ – Poisson’s ratio
