Pressure Vessel Design for Reciprocating Compressors Applied in Refinery and Petrochemical Plants Available to Purchase

The process gases (often at rather high pressure), used in refinery and petrochemical plants must be handled and contained in the most safe and reliable manner. All gas-bearing components therefore must be accurately designed to this purpose. Particularly, in reciprocating compressor plants pressure pulsations are unavoidable, however their occurrence and effects can be controlled through a proper design of pressure vessels, piping layout, supports etc. Proper sizing of pulsation bottles is in fact a key step in the definition of a reciprocating compressor plant system. Definition of volume, shape and type of the pulsation bottles is the first step of the design. Then the mechanical design, according to the required Code, is performed. Calculation of stresses occurring on the bottle internals, as well as a low cycle fatigue analysis may also be necessary in certain circumstances. Once the pulsation bottles are defined, it is possible to perform a vibration analysis by means of a FE model including the cylinders, the suction and discharge bottles and the relevant supports, using as an input the result of the piping pulsation and vibration analysis. This very accurate calculation is called the “cylinder manifold analysis”.