Pressure Relief

“Grace under pressure”

– Ernest Hemingway

Harry J. Toups LSU Department of Chemical Engineering with

significant material from SACHE 2003 Workshop presentation
by Scott Ostrowski (ExxonMobil)
and Professor Emeritus Art Sterling

1/51
What is the Hazard?
 Despite safety precautions …

– Equipment failures
– Human error, and
– External events, can sometimes lead to …

 Increases in process pressures beyond safe

levels, potentially resulting in …

 OVERPRESSURE due to a RELIEF EVENT

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What are Relief Events?
 External fire
 Flow from high pressure source
 Heat input from associated equipment
 Pumps and compressors
 Ambient heat transfer
 Liquid expansion in pipes and surge

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Potential Lines of Defense
 Inherently Safe Design
– Low pressure processes

 Passive Control
– Overdesign of process equipment

 Active Control
– Install Relief Systems
4/51
What is a Relief System?
 A relief device, and

 Associated lines and process

equipment to safely handle the material
ejected

5/51
Why Use a Relief System?
 Inherently Safe Design simply can’t
eliminate every pressure hazard

 Passive designs can be exceedingly

expensive and cumbersome

 Relief systems work!

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Pressure Terminology
 MAWP
 Design pressure
 Operating
pressure
 Set pressure
 Overpressure
 Accumulation
 Blowdown

7/51
Code Requirements
General Code requirements include:
– ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Codes
– ASME B31.3 / Petroleum Refinery Piping
– ASME B16.5 / Flanges & Flanged Fittings

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Code Requirements
Relieving pressure shall not exceed
MAWP (accumulation) by more than:
– 3% for fired and unfired steam boilers
– 10% for vessels equipped with a single
pressure relief device
– 16% for vessels equipped with multiple
pressure relief devices
– 21% for fire contingency

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Relief Design Methodology
LOCATE
RELIEFS
CHOOSE
TYPE
DEVELOP
SCENARIOS
SIZE RELIEFS
(1 or 2 Phase)
CHOOSE
WORST CASE
DESIGN RELIEF
SYSTEM
10/51
Locating Reliefs – Where?
 All vessels
 Blocked in sections of cool liquid lines
that are exposed to heat
 Discharge sides of positive
displacement pumps, compressors,
and turbines
 Vessel steam jackets
 Where PHA indicates the need

LOCATE
11/51
RELIEFS
Choosing Relief Types
 Spring-Operated Valves

 Rupture Devices

CHOOSE
12/51
TYPE
Spring-Operated Valves
 Conventional Type

CHOOSE
13/51
TYPE
Picture: Conventional Relief
Valve
Conventional
Relief Valve

CHOOSE
14/51
TYPE
Superimposed Back
Pressure
 Pressure in
discharge header
before valve opens
 Can be constant or
variable

CHOOSE
15/51
TYPE
Built-up Back Pressure

 Pressure in discharge
header due to
frictional losses after
valve opens
 Total = Superimposed
+ Built-up

CHOOSE
16/51
TYPE
Spring-Operated Valves
 Balanced Bellows Type

CHOOSE
17/51
TYPE
Picture: Bellows Relief
Valve
Bellows
Relief Valve

CHOOSE
18/51
TYPE
Pros & Cons:
Conventional Valve
 Advantages
+ Most reliable type if properly sized and operated
+ Versatile -- can be used in many services

 Disadvantages
– Relieving pressure affected by back pressure
– Susceptible to chatter if built-up back pressure is
too high

CHOOSE
19/51
TYPE
Pros & Cons:
Balanced Bellows Valve
 Advantages
+ Relieving pressure not affected by back pressure
+ Can handle higher built-up back pressure
+ Protects spring from corrosion

 Disadvantages
– Bellows susceptible to fatigue/rupture
– May release flammables/toxics to atmosphere
– Requires separate venting system
CHOOSE
20/51
TYPE
Rupture Devices
 Rupture Disc

 Rupture Pin

CHOOSE
21/51
TYPE
Conventional
Metal Rupture Disc

CHOOSE
22/51
TYPE
Conventional
Rupture Pin Device

CHOOSE
23/51
TYPE
When to Use a Spring-
Operated Valve
 Losing entire contents is unacceptable
– Fluids above normal boiling point
– Toxic fluids
 Need to avoid failing low
 Return to normal operations quickly
 Withstand process pressure changes,
including vacuum
CHOOSE
24/51
TYPE
When to Use a Rupture
Disc/Pin
 Capital and maintenance savings
 Losing the contents is not an issue
 Benign service (nontoxic, non-
hazardous)
 Need for fast-acting device
 Potential for relief valve plugging
 High viscosity liquids
CHOOSE
25/51
TYPE
When to Use Both Types
 Need a positive seal (toxic material,
material balance requirements)

 Protect safety valve from corrosion

 System contains solids

CHOOSE
26/51
TYPE
Relief Event Scenarios
 A description of one specific relief event
 Usually each relief has more than one relief
event, more than one scenario
 Examples include:
– Overfilling/overpressuring
– Fire
– Runaway reaction
– Blocked lines with subsequent expansion
 Developed through Process Hazard Analysis
(PHA)
DEVELOP
27/51
SCENARIOS
An Example: Batch Reactor
 Control valve on
nitric acid feed line
stuck open, vessel Raw
Material
overfills Feeds
 Steam regulator to Organic substrate
Catalyst
jacket fails, vessel Nitric Acid

overpressures
 Coolant system Reactor ~ 100 gallons
fails, runaway Product
reaction
DEVELOP
28/51
SCENARIOS
Sizing Reliefs
 Determining relief rates

 Determine relief vent area

SIZE RELIEFS
29/51
(Single Phase)
Scenarios Drive Relief Rates
 Overfill (e.g., control valve failure)
– Maximum flow rate thru valve into vessel

 Fire
– Vaporization rate due to heat-up

 Blocked discharge
– Design pump flow rate

SIZE RELIEFS
30/51
(Single Phase)
Overfill Scenario Calcs
 Determined maximum flow thru valve
(i.e., blowthrough)
 Liquids: Qm  C v A 2 g c P

g M  
( 1)/( 1)
 Gases: Qm   Cv APo c  2 
 

 choked RgTo  1

SIZE RELIEFS
31/51
(Single Phase)
Fire Scenario Calcs
 API 520 gives all equations for
calculating fire relief rate, step-by-step
1. Determine the total wetted surface area
2. Determine the total heat absorption
3. Determine the rate of vapor or gas
vaporized from the liquid

SIZE RELIEFS
32/51
(Single Phase)
Determine Wetted Area

B  cos11 2 E D 

 

A   D E   L  D  B  /180

wet    

SIZE RELIEFS
33/51
(Single Phase)
Determine Heat Absorption
 Prompt fire-fighting & adequate
drainage: 0.82
Q  21,000 F  A 



Btu/hr wet





 Otherwise: 0.82
Q  34,500 F  A 



Btu/hr wet





where Q is the heat absorption (Btu/hr)

F is the environmental factor
– 1.0 for a bare vessel
– Smaller values for insulated vessels
Awet is the wetted surface area (ft2)
SIZE RELIEFS
34/51
(Single Phase)
Determine Vaporization
Rate
where

W = Mass flow, lbs/hr

W Q /H vap
Q = Total heat absorption to
the wetted surface, Btu/hr

Hvap = Latent heat of

vaporization, Btu/lb
SIZE RELIEFS
35/51
(Single Phase)
Determine Relief Vent Area
 Liquid in 2(psi)1/2

Qv  (  )
A



 ref
Service 38.0 gpm CoKvKpK



 1.25Ps  P
 
b b
 A is the computed relief area (in2)
where  Qv is the volumetric flow thru the relief (gpm)
 Co is the discharge coefficient
 Kv is the viscosity correction
 Kp is the overpressure correction
 Kb is the backpressure correction
 (/ref) is the specific gravity of liquid
 Ps is the gauge set pressure (lbf/in2)
 Pb is the gauge backpressure (lbf/in2)
SIZE RELIEFS
36/51
(Single Phase)
Determine Relief Vent Area
 Gas Qm Tz
A
Service CoK P M
b
P  P max  14. 7
 A is the computed relief area (in )2

Q is 
where Pmax m 1.discharge
the 1Ps for unfired pressure
flow thru the vessels
relief (lb /hr)
m

P
 max
1.2Ps for vessels exposed to fire
 C is the discharge coefficient
o

K is the backpressure correction

b

max 1absolute
P T is the .33Ps for pipingof the discharge (°R)
temperature
 z is the compressibility factor
P is the set pressure for the relief valve
 sM is average molecular weight of gas (lb /lb-mol)
m
 P is maximum absolute discharge pressure (lbf/in2)
  is an isentropic expansion function
SIZE RELIEFS
37/51
(Single Phase)
Determine Relief Vent Area
 Gas  
( 1)/( 1)
  519. 5 

 2 

Service 
 1






where   is an isentropic expansion

function
  is heat capacity ratio for the gas
 Units are as described in previous
slide

SIZE RELIEFS
38/51
(Single Phase)
A Special Issue: Chatter
 Spring relief devices require 25-30%
of maximum flow capacity to maintain
the valve seat in the open position
 Lower flows result in chattering,
caused by rapid opening and closing
of the valve disc
 This can lead to destruction of the
device and a dangerous situation
SIZE RELIEFS
39/51
(Single Phase)
Chatter - Principal Causes
 Valve Issues
– Oversized valve
– Valve handling widely differing rates

 Relief System Issues

– Excessive inlet pressure drop
– Excessive built-up back pressure

SIZE RELIEFS
40/51
(Single Phase)
Worst Case Event Scenario
 Worst case for each relief is the event
requiring the largest relief vent area
 Worst cases are a subset of the overall
set of scenarios for each relief
 The identification of the worst-case
scenario frequently affects relief size
more than the accuracy of sizing calcs
CHOOSE
WORST CASE 41/51
Design Relief System
 Relief System is more than a safety
relief valve or rupture disc, it includes:
– Backup relief device(s)
– Line leading to relief device(s)
– Environmental conditioning of relief device
– Discharge piping/headers
– Blowdown drum
– Condenser, flare stack, or scrubber

DESIGN RELIEF
42/51
SYSTEM
Installation, Inspection, and
Maintenance
 To undermine all the good efforts of a
design crew, simply …
1. Improperly install relief devices
2. Fail to regularly inspect relief devices,
or
3. Fail to perform needed/required
maintenance on relief devices

43/51
?? Reduced Inlet Piping
Reduced
Inlet Piping

Anything wrong
here?

44/51
?? Plugged Bellows, Signs Failed
of
Anything wrong
Inspection,
here? Maintenance
Maintenance
Issues

Bellows plugged
in spite of sign

Failed
Inspection
Program
45/51
?? Discharges Pointing
Down
Anything wrong
here?
Anything
Discharges
Pointing
wrong
here?Down

46/51
?? Long MomentLongArm
Moment Arm

Anything wrong
here?

47/51
?? Will these bolts hold in a
relief event
Will these
bolts hold
in a
relief event?

Anything wrong
here?

48/51
Mexico City Disaster
Major Contributing Cause:
Missing Safety Valve

49/51
Summary
 Pressure Relief
– Very Important ACTIVE safety element
– Connected intimately with Process Hazard
Analysis
– Requires diligence in design, equipment
selection, installation, inspection and
maintenance
 Look forward to …
– Two-phase flow methodology/exercise
50/51
References
 Crowl and Louvar – Chemical Process
Safety, Chapters 8 and 9
 Ostrowski – Fundamentals of Pressure
Relief Devices
 Sterling – Safety Valves: Practical
Design, Practices for Relief, and Valve
Sizing

51/51
 END OF
PRESENTATION