Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology – VNU HCMC

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

GEOMETRY AND CONSTRUCTION

OF PRESSURE VESSELS
Instructor: Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Huu
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 Storage vessels

Heat exchangers

CONTENT Reactors

Mass transfer equipment

Mechanical vessels

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STORAGE
VESSELS

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1.Introduction

The most common type of pressure vessel

Stored liquids and gases for industrial processes

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 2.Geometry
• Storage vessels can theoretically
be almost any shape, but shapes
made of sections of spheres and
cylinders, are usually employed

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 2.1.Spherical Pressure Vessel
(Sphere)
Advantages Disadvantages
• No weak points • Tough to manufacture
• Undersized surface area per => more expensive
unit volume => reduce heat-
tranferred area • Difficult to ensure
mechanical support

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2.2.Cylindrical Pressure Vessel

 Advantages:
• Less expensive to produce
• Easier to manufacture
 Disadvantages:
• Not as strong as spheres due to the weak point at
each end.
• Need thicker material than a comparable spherical
vessel of similar capacity

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3.Construction

Traditional method

Present method

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Traditional method

•The traditional method refers to the bottom

of storage tank as the reference plane, the
tank wall will be installed one by one from
the first section of tank bottom to the top

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Present method

• The present method that is adapted

first constructing the top two or
more shells and then to construct the
roof, jack them up to continue with
the other shells towards bottom

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HEAT EXCHANGER
SHELL – TUBE TYPES

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TEMA TYPES
TUBULAR
EXCHANGER
MANUFACTUR
ES
ASSOCIATION

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 TUBE SHEET
and TUBE
CONECTION
 Tube sheet are made from the same
range materials of tubes.
 The tubes are attached to the tube sheet
by pneumatic, hydraulic pressure or
roller expansion.

Tube holes can be drilled or machined

with one or more grooves.
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Expanding tubes into the grooved tube holes
providing stronger joint but it make more difficult for
removal.
The following steps must be taken after tubes are
rolled inside tube holes:
1. Tubes should be expanded.
2. Tubes should be welded if required.
3. Hydrotest the shell side after a final roll.
 Strength weld: tube is slightly
extended beyond to tube sheet.
The weld adds metal to resulting
lip.
 Seal weld: the weld does not add 16/49
REACTOR PRESSURE VESSELS (RPV)

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 1. Introduction
• Understood to be a process vessel
used to carry out a chemical reaction.

•   The design contains many aspects

of chemical engineering.

• Be the pressure vessel containing the reactor

core and other key reactor internals.

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2. Geometry
A cylindrical vessel with a hemispherical bottom
head and a flanged and gasketed upper head.

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The properties of
the reactor
pressure and
inner structures

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JACKETED
VESSELS

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1. Introduction

 Jacketed vessels can be also

employed as chemical reactors

 A jacketed vessel is a container

that is designed for
controlling temperature of its
contents.

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2. Types of jacketed vessels
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Dimple jackets
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Half-Pipe Coil Jackets
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 3. Construction
The bottom head is welded
to the cylindrical shell
while the top head is bolted
to the cylindrical shell via
the flanges.

The top head is
removable to allow for
the refuelling of the reactor
during planned outages.

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The reactor pressure vessels (RPV) are the highest
priority key components in nuclear power plants.
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Erection of
reactor
pressure
vessel

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 4. MASS
TRANSFER
EQUIPMEN
T

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 Basic characteristics of mass transfer equipment

Large interfacial area which depend on the distribution of the

1
substances between gas phase and liquid phase.

High degree of turbulence is obtained by intense mixing and high

2
flow velocities.

Pressure drop: with the stable gas velocity, the pressure drop of the
3 gas phase increase rely on liquid phase capacity.

4 Cost effective
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 Some pressure vessels

Tray column Packed column 31/49

 Tray Column
• The diameters of distillation
column is from about 65 cm
to 6 m and the height from
about 6 m to 60 m or more.

• Tray spacings are in the range

of 450 – 900 mm.

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 The very common
hole diameter is 40
mm but up to 150 mm
are also used.

Valve tray

Sieve tray holes are 0.3 – 1.2

cm diameter with the total hole
area being about 10% of total
active tray area.

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Sieve tray 33/49
Bubble cap tray
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In order to calculate the
main internal
geometrical dimensions
of the column, the
column efficiency, the
actual number of trays,
and the necessary input
variables must be
determined.

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 Tray thickness must be less than the hole diameter and it depends on the
material and the corrosion properties of the process fluid ( carbon steel
(3.4 mm), stainless steel (2.77 mm).

Tray geometry Hole diameter : Small ones give better hydraulic and mass transfer whereas
Should be large ones are cheaper and more resistance to fouling.
chosen so that
hydraulic and
efficiency can be Hole area : Lower hole area allows the tray to operate at higher efficiency
and turndown ratio but higher pressure drop. Higher hole area, the distance
performed to between holes become excessive and liquid channeling may occur.
arrive at the
optimum design

Weir design: The weir height is about 2.5 – 10cm and the downcomer
height should be 1.25cm to ensure a positive downcomer seal.
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 Packed Column
• Column diameter is
about 50 – 750 mm.

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 Torispheical
head
•Da : Crown radius
•R2 : Knuckle radius
•R1: thickness of torispheical
head
•H3: Height of torispheical
head

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• Raschig ring is sizing from 10 - 100 mm
• Saddle packing is sizing from 10 – 75 mm

The column height with rings,

saddles and others is ranging from
0.3 – 9 m.
 Support grid

Liquid distributor which

makes reduce flooding and
pressure drop.

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Erection of the tray
and packed
column in industry

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MECHANICAL VESSELS

1. INTRODUCTION
Mechanical vessels are essential to the
continuous processing and manufacturing
by industrial and commercial concerns.
Mechanical vessels are widely varied in
designs and constructions for their
applications.
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2.
GEOMETRY

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 Decanter centrifuge Basket centrifuge

CENTRIFUGE

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Tubular centrifuge Disc bowl centrifuge
FILTER
Rotary Vacuum Drum Filter

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Tube Filter Vertical filter Horizontal filter
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TANK GEOMETRY AGITATOR
Square or rectangular tank
 The corners of the tank act as baffles
allowing the transfer of the agitator’s
power to be invested more effectively in
the liquid.
 Not recommended for solid suspension.
Cylindrical tank
 Require baffles when the mixer is
centered in the tank and vertically
mounted to prevent vortex formation.
 Low viscosity fluids will most likely
require baffles. 47/49
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THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK DESIGN FOR AGITATOR

Flat bottom Dished bottom Conical bottom

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3. CONSTRUCTION

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 AGITATOR
 The shape of the bottom shall be
considered. Some shapes may be not
recommended when working with bottom
entry magnetic mixers.

 Typical range of angles recommended for

conical bottoms in combination with the
use of bottom mount magnetic mixers. Bottom mount magnetic
agitator 50/49
 The h:d ratio shall be within the
recommended ratio of 1:1 to 2:1.
Values below 1:1 can provide
appropriate mixing flow pattern, but
will inhibit vortex formation. Values
above 2:1 shall be avoided.

 The position of the impeller in the

bottom dish affects flow pattern and
mixer efficiency. The half radius
position would provide the best
mixing performance.
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Thank you for your attention