PRESSURE VESSELS – THEORY

Any vessel which operates under pressure or in which pressure more than atmospheric is maintained can be
called as pressure vessel. Such vessels are usually designed according to pressure vessel codes. The vessel used
for the operation may be cylindrical or spherical. Spherical vessels are better in strength and lower in cost but
due to difficulties of fabrication cylindrical vessels are more commonly used. Spherical vessels are called
Horton spheres. When a vessel is subjected to internal pressure, the various stresses induced in the vessel are
Hoop stress or circumferential stress, longitudinal stress and radial stress.

Vessels subjected to internal pressure and combined loading.

Cylindrical shell and spherical shell

The internal pressure in the shell gives rise to stresses in the shell thickness, one in the circumferential and the
other in the longitudinal direction.

The circumferential or hoop stress is given as: =

The longitudinal or axial stress is given as: : =

Here the P is the internal pressure ( Design) ; D is mean diameter of shell.

Since the circumferential stress is greater, it is taken as design stress. The shell is generally formed by joint in
the longitudinal direction which is considered in terms of joint efficiency. The thickness of the shell is therefore

given by: = = = where P is the design pressure, J is joint efficiency, D is mean

diameter, f is the permissible stress at design temperature, Di & Do are internal and outer diameter.

.
= ;W=
.
Hoop strain

Here W is the radial deflection, E is the elasticity.

For a spherical shell both the stresses are equal to longitudinal stress. = = =

Stresses induced in the vessel are due to weight of the vessel itself, weight of the vessel contents, wind load
acting over the vessel, pipelines attached to the vessel and the internal pressure exerted in the vessel.

Vessels subjected to High Pressures

When the vessel is subjected to moderate and high pressure, ratio of radius to thickness (r/t) decreases. The
stress distribution in the vessel wall is not uniform and more accurate procedure has to be followed to determine
tangential, radial and axial stress and their variation in the vessel wall.

High pressure vessel Fabrication Techniques:

 PRESSURE VESSELS – THEORY

In case of high pressure processes, as the pressure required increases, the thickness necessary to keep the
stresses developed within a limit increases. The circumferential stress distribution becomes non uniform. It is
maximum at the innermost radius and minimum at the outermost radius. High pressure vessels can be fabricated
as Monoblock or thick walled vessel and Layered vessels.

Layered vessels consist of a multitude of layers wrapped tightly around an inner shell to form a pressure
retaining envelope. Layered vessels are constructed by various methods. The difference between these methods
is in the thickness of individual layers, wrapping procedure and welding technique. Layered vessels
construction are divided into 3 categories concentric/spiral wrapped method, Shrink fit method and coil
wrapped method.

Mono block thick walled vessel for high pressure are designed by two basic modes of failure ; Elastic failure-
based on the theory of elasticity and Plastic failure – based on the theory of plasticity.

CLOSURES FOR VESSELS

1. Flat plate: simplest cover is a flat plate. It may be either integrally formed with the shell or welded to
shell. Stress induced in a flat plate is calculated on the assumption that the edges are simply supported or
fully fixed. The thickness of flat plate used as a head is considerably higher than that of the shell. It is
used for atmospheric operations only. At the junction of the flat plate to the shell, stress concentration is
more and there is always a possibility of leakage.
2. Formed heads: flat plates cannot be used for pressure operations due to localized stress concentration.
For pressure services, the heads are formed to some specific shape, so that there is a gradual
discontinuity in shape. This facilitates a smooth junction with the shell. Various types of formed heads
are: a. standard shallow dished head; b. torispherical head; c. elliptical head; d. hemispherical head.
Formed heads are used to close the pressure vessel and maintain the pressure. To store a fluid under
uniform pressure a vessel having the minimum surface area and thickness per unit volume is the most
economical. It is always advantageous to consider the cost of heads in terms of unit weight rather than
unit area. Usually the heads requires more thickness than the shell for a given shape. The heads are
formed to specific shape by either pressing, dishing and flanging, spinning and forging. Head thickness
is calculated on the basis of circumferential stress. When the head is subjected to internal pressure
circumferential stress acts on the inner surface while if it is subjected to external pressure, it acts on the
convex surface.
a. Standard shallow dished head : the plate is spun to a dish form. The radius with which dishing is
done is called crown radius. The crown radius is equal to or less than the diameter of head. To avoid
corners, a knuckle is formed with radius of 6-10% of the diameter of the head.
b. Torispherical Head: in a torispherical head the crown radius is equal to the diameter of the vessel
and knuckle radius 6-10% of the diameter of the vessel. Thickness of torispherical head is calculated

. .
as : t= ;M= ;
.
M – Stress intensity factor ; P – Design pressure of the vessel, kg/cm² ; Rc – Crown radius of head ;
!" - Knuckle radius of head.
 PRESSURE VESSELS – THEORY

Torispherical heads are used in the pressure range between 1 kg/cm² to 15 kg/cm² gauge. . The head
is provided with a straight flange portion of 15-20mm so that the abrupt change in geometry called
as discontinuity area is avoided and the stress associated with the same is discontinuity stress.
c. Elliptical head: It is also called as semi ellipsoidal head. The major axis to minor axis ratio should
not be greater than 2.6:1. The point of maximum stress in the head changes with a change of major
to minor axis ratio. Major axis to minor axis ratio of 2.0 is most commonly used.

# ( " )
t= ;V= ;
&
The thickness can be calculated as:

V- Stress intensity factor; k is the ratio of major to minor axis ; the elliptical heads are used for vessels
operating above 15kg/cm².

d. Hemispherical head : It provides maximum volume and requires just half the thickness of cylindrical
shell of a vessel. This head is difficult to form and cost of fabrication is very high. Discontinuity
stress are minimum in the hemispherical head. The thickness of the hemispherical head can be
calculated as : ' =
This equation is useful when the stress distribution is uniform throughout the thickness. For large
thickness stress distribution has to be considered and circumferential stress distribution is calculated
by as follows:

( ) )
=( ) ) ) *+,. !, -1 + ) 0 − +2. !2 -1 + ) 03

e. Conical Head : Conical heads are commonly used as bottom head in evaporator , cyclone separator,
hydrocyclone and in number of equipments. It facilitates draining of the product or material. Cone
having an apex angle 30˚ - 60˚ . the thickness of the head is calculated as follows:

.
t= ; α – half apex angle of cone.
. .4 56

OTHER EQUATIONS USED FOR SOLVING NUMERICALS:

.
1. Radial deflection for thin walled cylinder : w= ;w- radial deflection;E-elasticity
.

2. Equation for thick cylinder : t =! 7 − 1 8 ; max radial deflection for thick

. )( 9)
walled cylinder is given by w = ( )
; : − ;2,<2= !> ,2;
3. Safety factor (@) = it is the ratio of strength of the material to max stress in that part of the vessel.
Cannot be 1 or < 1.
 PRESSURE VESSELS – THEORY

B √
• Resultant stress induced in the vessel is given by = * 3 ; where
A B (
k is ratio of outer to inner radius,@- safety factor.
• Maximum pressure the vessel can withstand using factor of safety is
B (
given by : + D E = 0.58 * 3 I. J ;
B
• Pressure at which the wall collapse using factor of safety is given by:
2
+4 = I . ln O
√3
• Thickness of the pipe given in terms of stress and internal pressure is

given by : t = 7 − 18