PLANT NOTEBOOK Sizing hot-vapors bypass valve Alejandro Anaya Durand® 11 A typical arrangement for pressure contol on distil-_| Tntion colurnns i shown in the igure. This type of eon- tral often ued when the overhead vapor fom the column are totally condensed there not bing a signi: | ‘cant amount of inerts that must be vented. The con- | dense is mounted below the acumulatorea convenient | rangement for maintgonnee purposa The condense iSthen sid tobe “submerged und its eat transfer ate is manipulated by fooding its shell with condensate Golumn pressure is conolled by manipulating the hot-vapor bypass valve, which adjusts the relative levels of condensate betwcen condenser and” sceumulator. When the valve dosey the liquid is forced out of te condenser, the expend sorfacs area for condensing in creates andthe pressure of the apse decreas, Open ing the valve alow accumulator liquid to, parcally flood the condenser, limiting the condensing rate and "The simplifed method that follows determines the proper control valve size by caleulaing the valve ex pacity cooficient based on the amount of vapors that Tnust be bypass in order to maintain the required prestre in the column, Basically, taking ito account thatthe condensate in such an arangerent i alwaye Subcooled at the condenser outlet, the amount of vapor bypased must be enough to heat the iqud to the sat || Sure drop acros the bypass valve is principally the dif ference in sate, bad. betvecn ‘accumletar” and condenser levels Assuming the condenser is near to grade, the static head is equivalent to the distance from accumulator liquid level to grade, typically 10 to 15 fe, depending on [NPSH (net positive suetion head) requirements of distill: ate pumps, ‘The volume of hot vapors at bypass must be sufficient to heat the subcooled condensate to accumulator tem: perature. Thus ) 2 3) | | Joscto Meco del Peres, Av. Cen Metros No, 182, Apartado Pal | Le eB 1 — | Distilation column Making the following assumptions will yield a con: servative valve design, pend’on heat transfer conditions at condenser) Thus: @) @) (10) ‘The required valve capacity coefficient can now be de- termined by a) aa? /SP, | QV The G, value obtained from Eq. (11) is then com- pared with standard valve capacity coefficients for vari- ‘ous valve openings as listed in manufacturers’ catalogs. To allow for normal fluctuations in column pressure, a (1.06 vie Pisin [ niMaer valve opening value of 60 to 70% is recommended. Example: The following conditions are from the overhead system of a depropanizer column, | | F = 100,000 Ib/h py, = 36.17 Ib/fe P, = 300 psia Pe, = 2 Ib/te (= 10°F G,,, = 0.39 Bru/Ib °F XL =o Bub AY = 10 1, = 90°F AP. = 2 psi | Determine the hot-vapors by required, sass flow and valve size 59140 — 97) aR = SO) 023 110 100,000(0.23) 3) eee) = 18,699 tbh T4023 10(36.17) 4) P, = 300 - OPI) 9 = 905.49 psia y 1 o 51 psi 18,699 ae (106 am a= ‘This capacity can be given with a 4-in, equal-percent- age valve at 60 to 70% opening as determined by using —_— Nomenclature Py Overhead vapom pressure, ps Py Accumulator pressure psia Gortrol system pressure loss, psi Bypass valve allowable pressure drop, psia F "Overhead vapors flow. tbh VF, Gondenser inlet vapors flowrate, Ib. Bypass infec vapors flowrate, Ib | | 42 Contensate sv, tht Overhead vapors temperatuce, °F {Accumulator temperature, -F Subsooled condensate temperature, °F Costing-media inlet temperature | KR Ratool PP, 2, Hotvapors bypass latent beat, Bru Ib, (Overhead vapors density. Ih 10 guid density, Ib, } ‘valves | |G, Condensate heat capacity, Bru/th “F | | | Fisher Controls, Sizing and Selection Data, Catalog #10. If other catalogs are used—Foxboro, Masoneilan, te.—similar results are obtained, Heat transfer coefficients | of steam condensers P.S.V. Kurmarao* 1 The design of condensers has received much atten- tion because of the ever-increasing size of steam turbine units, In the thermal calculations, one of the most im= portant factors is to estimate the overall heat-transfer coefficient, which helps in arriving at an optimum eco- nomical design, At present the thermal calculations of steam turbine condensers are carried out according to empirical rela- ‘ions for an overall heat-transfer coefficient obtained by correlating the experimental results of testing full-scale condensers, This is because of the eomplexity of acrody- namic and thermal processes of two-phase flow on the complex arrangement of tube banks, HEI standard for steam surface condensers" is the widely used document in this area, But in the literature’ it is claimed hat higher heat-transfer rates than those given in HEI are attainable in actual operation. This aspect demands a critical study of the HEL standard, HEI recommends the following equations for the overall heat-transfer coefficient_on new, clean No. 18 WG Admiralty metal tubes with 70°F inlet circulat- ing-water temperature: 267VF for and fin 263 for and Lin. 1V for and tin, for and tin for and fin for and 2in ; Resisiance through tube wall, fel?="F/Bra Overall heat-transfer coefficient, Buu h-f"E Velodty of circulating water,