Pressure vessels have a wide spectrum application, the major industries among them are Oil and Gas Industry, Chemical Industry and Energy Industry.
Pressure vessel application in Oil and Gas Industry
Oil and Gas industry often uses pressure vessels as receivers which have the capability to conduct physical and chemical processes under high temperature and pressure. The purpose of column may vary even though they are similar in construction. Taking the feed part boiling points distillation columns are used to divide feed streams or streams into multiple sources. Considering the similar construction of pressure vessels and columns they are probably bought from the same manufacturer. When taking the case of materials we know that the oil and gas industry uses Carbon steel and stainless steel as material of construction. All the components such as vessel internals and distillation trays altogether constitutes a pressure vessel. Highly complex are the dimensions of these components they require different specifications from that of manufacturers and are only be supplied by exclusive suppliers.
Chemical Industry
Pivotally chemical processes takes place in these kind of pressure vessels. The requirements of a chemical tank changes in accordance with the content filled in it. The chemical processes may be combining one or more products to create new products, dividing a single product into one or more than one products. The removal of directions of an existing product to create something else could also take place. Chemical industries uses more than one kind of vessels concomitantly.
Energy or Power Generation Industry
We can count on many reasons why energy industry uses pressure vessels. One of the major reason why they are required within the energy sector is to trap harmful gases. In oil refineries and metal works also the excess gas should be stored. The Nuclear power industry uses special pressure vessels named Reactor Pressure Vessels or RPV's. A reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in a nuclear power plant is the pressure vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core, that requires high reliability to withstand high temperatures and high pressures and neutron irradiation, which makes the RPV the most deprecatory pressure boundary in the nuclear power plant. But for attention sake not all power reactors have a reactor pressure vessel.
Pressure vessel types
Process Vessel:
A process vessel is a tank or container designed and equipped with the controls and accessories to complete a sub-process as part of an overall process. Simply hold and store liquids and they are used for an integrated operation in petrochemical facilities, refineries, oil and gas production facilities and gas plants.
Autoclaves:
A strong heated container used for chemical reactions and other processes using high pressures and temperatures, Autoclaves are large vessel that are pressurized and bought to high temperatures. The most common shape used for these vessels are round shape and cylindrical shape which is desirable to reduce pressure. The lid of autoclaves are sealed because they are designed to hold items inside it.
High-Pressure Vessels:
They are designed to be most durable on the market which are capable of working under the heaviest loads. They also cater an appreciable resistance to corrosion, temperature and pressure. The material used for high pressure vessels are usually stainless steel. The application of high pressure vessels are for chemical reactors, high-speed mixers and supercritical extraction system.
Expansion tanks:
An expansion tank or expansion vessel is a small tank used to protect closed water heating systems and domestic hot water systems are designed to adjust for changes in the amount of hot water in heating systems and changes in water flow rate. Apart from that to maintain the static pressure produced by the pump at the operation level in hot water and sanitary systems.
Heat Exchangers:
Simply heat exchanger is a system used to transfer heat between two or more fluids. They are used in both cooling and heating processes. A heat exchanger is a device that transfers heat from one medium to another. Heat exchangers are most commonly used in industrial facilities such as iron and steel, petroleum, gas, ships and marine industries, food, pharmaceuticals, power plants, leather, textiles and air conditioning.
Water Pressure Tanks:
It stores water and dispense water under pressure when the pump is not running. It builds up a hold back supply of water so the pump starts and stops less often, prolonging the life of the pump. The pressure tank in a water well system produces water pressure by using compressed air to force down on the water. Through the pipes inside your home when a valve is opened because of this pressure, water is forced out of the tank.
Vacuum Tanks:
A vacuum tank is part of a system that filters air or fluids through suction, out gassing, pumping. Vacuums use pressure to stops contamination, purify, dehydrate and even power.A tank which is used with some internal-combustion engines, into which the fuel (as gasoline) is sucked from the main tank.
ASME Pressure Vessels:
They are also known as ASME boilers, are any pressure vessel with an ASME stamp. The ASME stamp designates the vessel has undergone inspection and meets stringent ASME VIII code standards. Along with that, the ASME stamps offer end-users information such as ASME boiler and its manufacturer.
Boilers:
They are actually closed pressure vessels used to heat fluids, mostly water. These heated fluids are used for cooking, power generation, central heating, water heating and sanitation. In order for this to happen chemical energy from a fuel source such as oil or gas is converted into heat by combustion.
Universal Engineering Services has more than a decades experience in the pressure vessel design for customers in UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and many more countries all over the world. UES work to many ASME standards to design and validate pressure vessels, boiler, fittings and piping systems. We are also experts in Stress analysis of piping, structural design, ASME Joint review, Design of Storage tanks, code calculations, FEA/FEM, and spotless service on design management.
The content of this article is taken from web open source. The blogs are intended only to give technical knowledge to young engineers. Any engineering calculators, technical equations and write ups are only for reference and educational purpose.