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Steel Stacks Design Guide
Steel Stacks Design Guide
This guide is prepared by myself Khaled Sayed on November 2015 due to lack of
information about this topic, this is as simple guidance line for steel stack design
based on best practice industrial design, the effort is dedicated this work to my
friend Jin from Sinoma-CDI China who passed on 13th of November 2015
INTRODUCTION
This standard document covers terminology, loading, materials, structural design,
construction, inspection, maintenance and painting of both self-supporting and some
information about guyed stack form, the sequence are based on the Asme-Sts-1-2010 and
some information are extracted from the Indian standards, in my search this was found to
be a grey area between the mechanical engineer and the civil, very few books and
standers cover this topic.
STACKS
Due to the particular nature of stacks and their susceptibility to failures due to wind
and seismic-induced vibrations, along with corrosion and erosion, the design
process is a complex one. Additionally, recent regulations by the Environmental
Protection Agency concerning emissions have placed a strong emphasis on the
mechanical design of stack.
TYPES OF SUPPORTS
There are many types of stack
1. Free standing
2. Multi flue stacks
3. Base support and braced
4. Base support and guyed
There are also different types of supports vertical and lateral, or braced. Vertical
supports may be above ground. Examples of this kind of support would be a stack
supported on a steel frame within a structural tower or a stack supported on a floor
or on top of a building.
ADVANTAGES OF VERTICALLY
SUPPORTED AND BRACED STACKS.
Stacks supported above ground usually
have the option of receiving exhaust duct
attachment from below, as well as from the
sides. A braced stack will; require a
smaller foundation as compared to a free;
standing stack with the same height since
some of the wind load will be transferred
to the adjacent bracing: structure. Due to
the same load transfer, a braced stack 'also
has fewer shell stresses as compared to a
free-standing stack, therefore requiring
thinner shell or smaller diameter. For
multiplatform and tall stacks, sometimes
access to the platform can be provided by
catwalks from the adjacent building rather
than a ladder from ground level. In the case of the tower-supported stacks, the tower also has the
advantage of providing an easy and safe framework for staircase and test platforms.
MATEERIAL CO
ONSIDER
RATION
Corrosion n allowances shall be coonsidered (ty ypically to .)) for all typees of steel. B
Base plate shaall be
1) Carbon steels confforming to th he AS1M A 36,A 283, oor A 529 Speecifications.
(2) High--strength, loww steels con
nforming to thet AS1M A 242, A 5722 alloy, or A 588
Specificaations.
(3) Stainlless steels co
onforming to
o the AS1M A 666 Speccification.
(4) Stainlless chromiu um-nickel steeel clad platte conforminng to AS1M A 264 and nnickel-base aalloy
clad steell conforming g to ASTM A 265 may be b considereed for use as shell plate.
CORROSSION ALLOW
WANCE
WELDING
LININGS
(a)Linings for the interior of steel stacks may be required to provide resistance to corrosive
gases, vapors, or condensates; to provide resistance to heat; and to maintain stack surface
temperatures for the prevent of condensate corrosion.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
DEAD LOAD
The dead load shall consist of the weight of steel stack, coatings, internal liner, insulation, and
cladding, and all permanent accessories such as ladders, platforms, and gas sampling equipment.
The applied weight of the refractory material shall be used to calculate dead load stresses
LIVE LOAD
The minimum live load of shall be included for platforms and walkways, an estimate of
2.5kN/m2 is a good estimate. This load need not be considered for wind or earthquake
combinations. A horizontal load of 0.5 kN/m acting on the handrail capping piece to the outside or inside
must be assumed for measuring the handrails
WIND LOAD
THERMAL LOADS
According to the Indian standards Maximum permissible stresses as obtained shall be corrected
for the most adverse temperature conditions to which the member or part may reasonably be
expected to be exposed by multiplying with the appropriate temperature coefficient Kt given in
below the expected temperature of steel components shall not be allowed to exceed 400°C. For
temperatures exceeding 400°C the effects of temperature creep should be considered to avoid
creep rupture
HELICAL STRAKES.
A three-start set of curved-plate helical strakes 120 deg apart on the stack circumference may
be attached to the outer surface of the stack with the strake plate approximately perpendicular to
the stack surface at all points. The pitch of the helix should be five times the aerodynamic
diameter and the strake should project ~o diam. from the aerodynamic diameter. Strakes
of adequate structural thickness should be provided on the top ~ of the stack height. Each strake
is to be aerodynamically continuous except at specific locations where cuts may be necessary to
clear ring stiffeners or other attachments. The maximum gap allowed between the stack shell and
helical strake shall be equal to 0.1 x strake width. The presence of strakes significantly increases
the drag forces and a drag force coefficient of 1.4 used in conjunction with the outside diameter
(including insulation and lagging) of the stack is recommended. Segments of flat vertical strakes
at helical locations are not acceptable methods for disrupting vortices.
ALLOWABLE STRESSES
An increase in allowable shell stresses due to wind or seismic loads shall not be allowed, the
following equation must be satisfied this means the shell must be thin.
ALLOWABLE DEFLECTION
The maximum deflection at the top of the steel chimney produced by the wind load without
taking into account the dynamic factors, calculated as acting on the circular cross section shall
not be greater than h/200. Where ‘h’ is the unsupported height of the chimney, while for the EN
1993-3-2 it provides h/50 which seems too large displacement.
CIRCUM L COMPRES
MFERENTIAL SSION IN STIFFENERS
T
.The sizee of stiffeners shall satisffy the follow
wing three reqquirements
(a) The
T stiffener and plate seection shall haveh a momeent of inertiaa equal to or greater thann that
determined by b the follow wing equation n:
CONSTR
RUCTION LO
OADS.
Considerration shall be
b given in th
he design for applied connstruction looads in combbination withh
wind and
d seismic loaads that may reasonably be expectedd to occur duuring construuction
CIRCUM
MFERENTIAL STRESS.
The circu
umferential stress in th he shell due to
t external w
wind pressure pz betweenn stiffeners
spaced att distance, lss, shall be deetermined using
MINIMU
UM PLATE THICKNESS
T
ACCORDING TO THE ASME
FATIGUE
Aerodynamic methods disturb the formation of vortices on the sides of the stack and limit the
source of vibration Helical Strakes. A three-start set of curved-plate helical strakes 120 deg apart
on the stack circumference may be attached to the outer surface of the stack with the
strake plate approximately perpendicular to the stack surface at all points. The pitch of the helix
should be five times the aerodynamic diameter and the strake should project ~o diam. from the
aerodynamic diameter. Strakes of adequate structural thickness should be provided on
the top ~ of the stack height. Each strake is to be aerodynamically
continuous except at specific locations where cuts may be necessary to clear ring stiffeners or
other attachments. The maximum gap allowed between the stack shell and helical strake shall be
equal to 0.1 x strake
width.
OPENINGS
Openings have to be strengthened to prevent local reduction of Strength
Resistance against fatigue and instability The strength of the cross-section with openings is the
same as the strength of an undisturbed section if the section modulus is the same. This equality
of section moduli is sufficient to fulfill the first condition of strength Across section with an
opening is sensitive to the effects of buckling.
This is due to the stiffness of the weakened cross-section being reduced by the possibility of the
shell bending in or out at the edges of the opening. To prevent this the reinforcement stiffeners
have to be placed normal to the shell {see Figures C5.2 & C5.3) and concentrated along the edge
of the opening However, sudden ending of of the reinforcement above and below the opening
can cause stress concentrations. These can treble stresses locally and lead to fatigue damage such
as local cracks. To avoid this, in the case of openings with width greater than 40% of the
chimney diameter locally, the vertical stiffeners should connect at each end with a horizontal
stiffener extending around the full circumference (see fig. C5.2).When the width of opening is
less than 40% of the chimney’s diameter locally, it is not necessary to provide a horizontal
stiffener extending around the full circumference and a more local arrangement may be used (see
fig.. C5.3). Vertical reinforcement should be continued above and below the opening to a point
where the added stress is unimportant. The code deems that continuing the reinforcement beyond
horizontal stiffeners above and below the opening a distance at least 0.5 times the width of the
opening will suffice. If the vertical height of the opening is more than twice its horizontal width,
a stability check is needed. Guidance on such checks is given in the chapter on bending of plates
under lateral loads in “Plates and shells”, by Timoshenko. When the duty of the chimney
requires flue gas inlets whose width exceeds two-thirds of the structural shell’s diameter, a
possible solution would be to provide a large number of small circular openings, giving a total
area equivalent to that required. Reinforcement could then be threaded between the small holes
and around the whole group, as require
COMMON PROBLEMS
a) Atmospheric corrosion and weathering on exterior surface
(b) Corrosion due to acid condensation in flue gases on internal surfaces
(c) Fly ash or particulate collection at the base, false bottom, or roof cap of the stack
(d) Moisture condensate at the base of the stack
(e) Acid/moisture infiltration of insulation
(f) Deformation due to thermal or other loading
(g) Corrosion of anchor bolts
(h) Fatigue cracks
(i) Loss or deterioration of insulation, coating, or linings
(j) Loosening of anchor bolts.
INSPECTION
For early detection of the commonly occurring problems,
it is recommended that the stack be inspected
periodically to enable the user of the stack to take appropriate
measures to counteract such problems.
FOUNDATION DESIGN
The foundation for stacks shall be
designed for all cases of loading, any
foundation movement or rotation will
cause partial or total collapse so
foundation must be carefully designed,
the foundation must be of size and shape
that the load on the soil below will not
exceed the maximum load which it will
fully support also no allowance for
tension by any means below foundation
since earth have no strength whatever in
tension. The connection of the shell to
the concrete foundation or to the
supporting structure should
resist the overturning moment, normal
force and shear force developed at the shell base and transmitted to
the foundation