PRESSURE VESSELS

• It is generally accepted that any closed vessel over 150 mm diameter

subject to a pressure difference of more than 0.5 bar should be designed as
a pressure vessel.
• Such vessels are usually designed according to pressure vessel codes.
Ex: reaction vessels, boilers, heat exchangers, distillation columns

• Internal pressure: if the pressure is maintained inside the vessel it is called

as vessel subjected to internal pressure.
• External pressure: when pressure lower than atmospheric is maintained
inside the vessel it is termed as subjected to external pressure or operating
under vacuum.

• The vessel used for operation may be cylindrical or spherical. Spherical

vessels are better in strength and lower in cost but due to difficulties in
fabrication cylindrical shells are most commonly used
• Pressure vessels are classified as thin walled and thick walled.
• Thin walled: if t/d < 1/10.
• Thick walled: if t/d > 1/10.
• Where, ‘t’ is wall thickness .
‘d’ is diameter of vessel.

When a vessel is subjected to internal pressure, the various stresses induced

in the vessel are :
i. hoop stress or circumferential stress  2
ii. Longitudinal stress  1
iii. Radial stress 
3
• For low values of operating pressure or for a thin wall the radial stress
variation is negligible and the longitudinal stress and circumferential stress
can be taken as constant over the wall thickness
• For high operating pressures or for a thick wall, the magnitude of radial
stress is will be significant and the circumferential stress will vary across
the wall.

• Pressure vessel codes and standards to maintain safety:

1. In UK : British standard BD5500
European standard EN13445
2. In US : ASME code Section VIII
• Membrane stresses in shells of revolution:
A shell of revolution is the form swept out by a line or a curve rotated
about an axis.
most process vessels are made up from shell of revolution: cylindrical and
conical sections, and hemispherical, ellipsoidal and torispherical heads.
The walls of thin vessels can be considered to be membranes, supporting loads
without significant bending or shear stresses, similar to the walls of balloon
• Consider the shell of revolution of general shape,
under a loading that is rotationally symmetric, that is,
the load per unit area on the shell is constant round
the circumference

Let,
p = pressure
t = thickness of shell
 1 = longitudinal stress,
 2 = the circumferential or tangential stress
r1 = the meridional radius of curvature.
r2 = the circumferential radius of curvature.

1  2 p
 
r1 r2 t
• Sphere:
r1 = r2 = D/2

Hence, pD
1   2 
4t

• Cone
r1 = ∞
r2 = r/cosα

Substituting we get,
pr
2 
t cos
pr
1 
2t cos
• Ellipsoid
for an ellipse with major axis 2a and minor axis 2b, it can be shown that,
radius of curvature,
r23b 2
r1  4
a
pr2
1 
2t
p r22 
 2  r2  
t  2r1 

At the crown, r1= r2 = b²/a

pa2
1   2 
2bt

At the equator r1= b²/a and r2 = a,

pa pa  a2 
1  2  1  2 
2t t  2b 
• Torus: A torus lid formed by rotating a circle, radius r2, about an axis.
pr2
1 
2t

R R  r sin 
r1   0 2
sin  sin 
and,
Pr2  r2 sin  
2  1  
t  2R0  r2 sin   

At the outer edge, point a, θ = π/2, sinθ =1 and

pr2  2 R0  r2 
2   
2t  R0  r2 

On the centre line of the torus, point c, θ = 0 and

pr2
2 
t
• Dilation of vessels :
Under internal pressure a vessel will expand slightly. The radial growth can be
calculated from the elastic strain in the radial direction .
Principal strains in a 2-D system are related to principal stresses by:

1 
1
 1   2 
E

2 
1
 2   1 
E

The radial ( diametrical strain) will be

Same as the circumferential strain ε2 .
Substituting the corresponding stress values,
• A cylinder : 2

PD
2   
4tE
• A sphere :
PD2
 1   
4tE
Primary stress Secondary stress
• Stresses that are necessary to • Stresses that arise from the
satisfy the condition of static constraint of adjacent parts of the
equilibrium. vessel.
• Membrane stresses induced by the • The thermal stress caused by
applied pressure and the bending differential expansion of parts of
stresses due to wind loads. vessels
• Primary stress are not self • Discontinuity that occurs between
limiting, if they exceed the yield the head and the cylindrical
point of the material, gross section of a vessel
distortion and in extreme • Secondary stresses are self
situation, failure of the vessel will limiting
occur.
• General design consideration in pressure vessel :
Design pressure :
For vessels under internal pressure, the design pressure is normally taken as
the relief device is set.
Design pressure = 1.05-1.10 of working pressure
If the hydrostatic pressure at the base of the vessel is significant, then it has to
be considered and added to the operating pressure.

Vessels subjected to external pressure should be designed to resist the

maximum differential pressure that is likely to occur in service.

Design temperature:
The strength of metals decreases with increasing temperature, therefore the
design temperature at which the design stress is evaluated should be taken
as the maximum working temperature of the material.
• Material of construction:
General MOC for pressure vessels are plain carbon steels, low and high alloy
steels, other alloys, clad plate and reinforced plastics.
Pressure vessel design codes and standards are followed for the selection.

• Design stress: nominal design strength

Maximum allowable stress offered by the MOC.
• Welded joint efficiencies:
the strength of a welded joint will depend on the type of joint and the quality
of the welding, radiography is NDT used to analyze the welds and can also
be checked by visual inspection.
Allowable stress is multiplied by “welded joint factor ‘J’ ” during design.
taking J as 1 implies that the joint is equally as strong as the virgin plate.

What will happen if lower joint efficiency is used?

• Corrosion allowance :
The “ corrosion allowance” is the additional thickness of metal added to allow
for material lost by corrosion and erosion or scaling.
A minimum allowance of 1mm has to be considered.
For severe erosion an allowance of 4 mm has to be provided.
For mild erosion 2 mm allowance has to be provided.

• 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.
General guidelines for wall thickness of any vessel including a corrosion
allowance of 2 mm.
Design loads:
A structure must be designed to resist gross plastic deformation an collapse
under all the conditions of loading.

Major loads( must be considered) Subsidiary loads:

1. Design pressure: including any 1. Local stresses caused by supports,

significant static head of liquid. internal structures and connecting
pipes.
2. Maximum weight of the vessel and
contents, under operating conditions. 2. Shock loads caused by water hammer, or
by surging of the vessel contents.
3. Maximum weight of the vessel and
contents under the hydraulic test 3. Bending moments caused by eccentricity
conditions. of the centre of the working pressure
relative to the neutral axis of the vessel.
4. Wind loads.
4. Stresses due to temperature differences
5. Earthquake (seismic) loads. and differences in the coefficient
expansion of materials.
6. Loads supported by, or reacting on, the 5. Loads caused by fluctuations in
vessel. temperature and pressure.
Design of thin-walled vessel under internal pressure
• For a cylinder shell the minimum thickness required to resist internal
pressure can be determined from :
Pi D
f 
2t
Where cylindrical stress will be considered,

If Di is the internal diameter and ‘t’ is the minimum thickness required, the
mean diameter will be (Di + t), substituting this in eqn
Pi Di
t
2 f  Pi

If a welded joint factor ‘J’ is used, then

Pi Di
t
2 fJ  Pi
• The minimum thickness of sphere is
Pi Di
t
4 f  Pi
• The equation for a sphere given in BS 5500 is:

Pi Di
t
4 f  1.2 Pi

If a joint factor ‘J’ is used, then

Pi Di
t
4 fJ  1.2 Pi
• Heads and closures:
The ends of a cylindrical vessel are closed by heads of various shapes. The
principal types used are
 Flat plates and formed flat heads
 Hemispherical heads
 Ellipsoidal heads
 Torispherical heads
• Choice of closure:
• Flat plates are use as covers for manways, and as channel covers for heat
exchangers.
Flange only heads are the cheapest type of formed head to manufacture but
their use is limited to low-pressure and small-diameter vessel.

• Torispherical heads are the most commonly used end closure for vessel
upto operating pressure of 15bar, and above 15bar ellipsoidal head will
prove to be the most economic closures.

• Hemispherical heads is the strongest shape, capable of resisting about twice

the pressure of a torispherical head of the same thickness.
Fabrication cost is the limitation for hemispherical shells but they are used for
high pressures
• Flat plates
Flat plates are use as covers for manholes, as blind flanges, and for the ends of
small diameter and low pressure vessels.
two limitations:
1. When the edge of the plate is rigidly clamped, not free to rotate; which
corresponds to a heavy flange, or a strong joint.

2. When the edge is free to rotate (simply supported); corresponding to a

weak joint, or light flange
• Design of flat plate :
• Though the fabrication cost is low, flat ends are not a structurally efficient
form, and very thick plates would be required for high pressures or large
diameters.
• The minimum thickness required is:

Where, f = the maximum allowable stress (the design stress),

D = the effective plate diameter,
C = a constant, which depends on edge support,
0.43 (completely rigid)
0.56 (free to rotate)
• General equations

• Hemispherical heads:

The thickness of the head is only half of the cylindrical sections. But as
dilations of the two parts would be different, discontinuity stresses would
be set up at the head and cylinder junction.

For no difference in dilation, and for MOC steel( poisson’s ratio = 0.3)

Ratio of thickness of hemispherical heads to thickness of cylindrical shell is

7/17. 0.6
• Torispherical Heads
A torispherical shape, part of torus and part of a sphere.
Rk = knuckle radius (radius of torus)
Rc = crown radius (radius of the sphere)

The ratio of knuckle radius to crown radius should be made

not less than 6/100 to avoid buckling

For the spherical portion,

pRc
1   2 
2t
For the torus:
pRk
1 
2t
 2 depends on the location and is a function of Rc and Rk
Torispherical heads:
The thickness of the head is:
Pi RcCs
t
2 fJ  Pi Cs  0.2

Where, Cs is Stress concentration factor = 1  Rc 

3  
Conditions, 4  Rk 


Crown radius should be less than the diameter of cylindrical section

Rk
 0.06
Rc
• Ellipsoidal heads:
Usually major axis: minor axis = 2:1

Pi Di
t
2 fJ  0.2 Pi
• Conical sections:
 Conical ends are used to facilitate the smooth flow and removal of solids
from process equipment; such as, hoppers, spray-dryers and crystallisers.

• The thickness required at any point on a cone is related to the diameter by

the following expression:
Pi Dc 1
t
2 fJ  Pi cos
Where,
• Dc is the diameter of the cone at the point,
• α = half the cone apex angle.

• This equation will only apply at points away from the cone to cylinder
junction. Bending and shear stresses will be caused by the different dilation
of the conical and cylindrical sections. Therefore a stress concentration
factor will be introduced
Cc Pi Dc
t
2 fJ  Pi
• A cylindrical pressure vessel of O.D 1.8m in dia and 5 m in height is
subjected to a internal pressure of 8 kg/mm². corrosion allowance is 2mm
and maximum allowable stress is 1400 kg/mm².
if the vessel is fabricate as :
Class B vessel with J=0.85
Class C vessel with J=0.5 and J=0.7,
What will be the minimum thickness of the vessel?
If a strip of suitable size is welded all along the longitudinal joint,(J=1), what
will be the thickness of the vessel and how much percentage saving in the
material can be achieved?
Solution:
Design pressure: 8 x 1.1=8.8 kg/cm²
PDo
t 
2 fj  P
For J=0.85
8.8 *1800
t 
2 * 0.85 *1400  8.8 = 6.63 mm+2mm= 8.63 mm
• For J =0.7,
t = ? mm, therefore 12mm standard plate thickness,

For J= 0.5,
t = ? mm,

For J = 1,
t = ? mm,

Percentage saving,
ti-t1/ti
• A vessel having 1.6 m ID is to operate at a pressure of 5 kg/cm². The
permissible stress of the material used for fabrication is 1020 kg/cm². welded
joint efficiency is 0.85, calculate the thickness required for a cylindrical vessel
and a spherical vessel?
Which vessel should be selected for operation?

Design pressure: 5x1.1 = 5.5kg/mm².

Thickness of cylindrical vessel is
Pi Di
t
2 fJ  Pi
Thickness of spherical vessel,

Pi Di
t
4 fJ  Pi
According to BS std. Pi Di
t
4 fJ  1.2 Pi
• Estimate the thickness required for the component parts of the vessel
shown in the diagram. The vessel is to operate at a pressure of 14 bar
(absolute) and temperature of 300°C. The material of construction will be
plain carbon steel. Welds will be fully radiographed. A corrosion allowance
of 2 mm should be used.
• Solution:
Design pressure: (14-1)*1.1= 14.3 bar
From table, maximum allowable stress at 300⁰C is
12900 psi= 88.9 N/mm2

For a cylindrical section:

Pi Di
t = 12.7 mm
2 fJ  1.2 Pi
• Domed head:

 Torisphere:
Crown radius, Rc=Di=1.5 m
Knuckle radius = 6% of Rc = 90mm
As heads of sizes would be formed by pressing, therefore J=1,

1
3  Rc 
 = 1.77
Cs 
4
 Rk 

Pi Rc Cs
t = 22.0 mm
2 fJ  Pi C s  0.2 

 Ellipsoid: standard major : minor axis = 2:1,

Pi Di
t = 22.0 mm
2 fJ  0.2 Pi

 Flat head
Cp = 0.25 use a full gasket, Pi
De=1.7 mts bolt diameter t  C p De = 88.4mm
f
• Design of vessels subjected to external loading:
Two types of vessels are subjected to external pressure:
 Those operated under vacuum, where the max. pressure will be 1 atm.
 Jacketed vessels, where the inner vessel will be under the jacket pressure.

Thin-walled vessels subject to external pressure are liable to failure through

elastic instability (buckling) and it is this mode of failure that determines
the wall thickness required.
• For an open-ended cylinder, the critical pressure to cause buckling ‘Pc’ is
given by the following expression;
 where L = the unsupported length of the vessel, the effective length,
Do = external diameter,
t = wall thickness,
E = Young's modulus,
 = Poisson's ratio,
n = the number of lobes formed at buckling.

• For For long tubes and cylindrical vessels this expression can be simplified by
neglecting terms with the group in the denominator; the
equation then becomes:

• The minimum value of critical pressure will occur when the no. of lobes is 2,
therefore
• For most pressure vessel materials the poison ratio can be taken as 0.3,
Therefore,

• For short closed vessels, and long vessels with stiffening rings, the critical
buckling pressure will be higher than that predicted by equation. The effect
of stiffening can be taken into account by introducing a "collapse
coefficient", Kc

³
Where Kc = fn (Do , t, L’). L’ = effective length between the ends or
stiffening rings.
• Vessel heads:
Sphere:
The critical buckling pressure of a sphere subjected to external pressure:

Taking posions ratio as 0.3

²

The critical pressure to form a dimple is 1/3rd of above eqn.

A value of safety factor 6 is considered , the minimum thickness required is