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Feature Report
Engineering
Practice
Silvan Larson
and William Freivald
Valdes Engineering Company
merical integration of the isentropic
nozzle equation is now easier, faster,
and more accurate than other methods for determining the mass flux
through a relief valve. This article discusses the use of process simulators
to simplify the numerical integration
method, and describes the advantages
of numerical integration over other
methods that may be used to calculate
the required relief valve area.
Calculation methods
(1)
(2)
Nomenclature1
G0 Mass flux,
lb/h in.2
Density, lb/ft3
P0 Relieving
pressure, psi
Pn Nozzle exit
pressure, psi
A Orifice area, in.2
W Relieving mass rate,
lb/h
Kd Discharge coefficient,
unitless
Pi Pressure at stage i, psi
i Density at stage
i, lb/ft3
(3)
Implementation
Engineering Practice
Closing remarks
References
1. American Petroleum Inst., Sizing, Selection,
and Installation of Pressure-Relieving Devices in Refineries, ANSI/API RP 520, 8th
Ed., Part 1: Sizing and Selection, Washington, D.C., Dec. 2008.
2. Darby, R., Size safety-relief valves for any
conditions, Chem. Eng., pp. 42-50, Sept.
2005.
3. Kim, J.S., H J. Dunsheath and N.R. Singh,
Proper relief-valve sizing requires equation
mastery, Hydrocarbon Proc., pp. 7780, Dec.
2011.
4. Huff, J., Flow through emergency relief devices and reaction forces, J. Loss Prev. Process Ind., Vol. 3, pp. 4349, 1990.
5. Bird, R.B., and others, Transport Phenomena, pp. 481, John Wiley, New York, 1960.
6. Darby, R., On two-phase frozen and flashing
flows in safety relief valves: Recommended
calculation method and the proper use of the
discharge coefficient, J. Loss Prev. Process
Ind., Vol. 17, pp. 255259, 2004.
Authors
Mark Siegal (Email: msiegal2
@gmail.com), was, until recently, a process engineer at
Valdes Engineering Company
where he was responsible for
process design, process modeling, and emergency relief
system design. He holds a
B.S.Ch.E. from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Silvan Larson is a principal
process engineer at Valdes
Engineering Company (100
W 22nd St., Suite 185, Lombard, IL 60148; Phone: 630792-1886; Email: slarson@
valdeseng.com),where he is
responsible for process design
and emergency-relief-system
design. He has more than 30
years of experience in manufacturing and process design
engineering in the chemicals and petroleum refining industries. He holds a B.S.Ch.E. from University of WisconsinMadison and is a registered
professional engineer in Ill.
William A. Freivald is the
manager of process engineering at Valdes Engineering
Company (Phone: 630-7921886; Email: wfreivald@
valdeseng.com). He has more
than 17 years of international
process design experience in
specialty chemicals, gas processing and refining. He holds
a B.S.Ch.E. from Northwestern University and is a registered professional engineer in Illinois.