Tower Piping

BECHTEL PLANT DESIGN & PIPING ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDE FOR FRACTIONATION TOWERS 3DG P22 001, Rev.
00, 12/92 Prepared by: E.F. Bausbacher Approved by: E.F. Bausbacher
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No.
LIST OF FIGURES 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.0 4.1 4.2 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 PURPOSE INTRODUCTION TERMINOLOGY Safety Operation Maintenance Economics INITIATE TRAYED TOWER LAYOUT Establish Tower Elevation Establish Tray Orientations TOWER LAYOUT FROM TOP DOWN Vapor Overhead Line Top Head Platform Closed Relief System
3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 8 8 8 9 Page No.
PAGE 1 OF
O:\WINWORD\3DG\P22\001-00.DOC
5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 5.12 6.0
Reflux Nozzle Instrument Nozzles Preferred Component Locations Miscellaneous Nozzle Considerations Tray Details Packed Bed Sections Platform Details Optimizing Tower Layout Reboiler and Pipe Support Considerations REFERENCE DRAWINGS
9 9 10 10 11 12 12 13 13 14
PAGE 2 OF
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18
Establish Tower Elevation Set Tray Orientation Alternative Methods of Reboiler Support Feed Nozzles Manway Locations Vapor Overhead Line Top Head Platform Closed Relief System Reflux Nozzle Instrument Nozzles Preferred Component Locations Miscellaneous Nozzle Considerations Tray Details Packed Bed Section Platform Details Optimizing Tower Layout Reboiler and Pipe Supports Trayed and Packed Towers
PAGE 3 OF
1.0
PURPOSE To provide a layout designer with the guidelines to develop a comprehensive fractionation tower design which considers safety, operation, maintenance and economics.
2.0
INTRODUCTION The philosophy addressed in this guide primarily deals with trayed fractionation towers. It is the responsibility of the Plant Design and Piping group to develop a layout based upon a combination of certain specific rules and logic. The optimum tower design is achieved through a trial and error approach when not governed by specific industry codes and regulations. This includes striking a balance between setting tray orientations, use of internal piping, and proper grouping of valves and instruments to minimize platforming requirements.
3.0 3.1
TERMINOLOGY Safety Design of towers must give proper attention to safety for all plant personnel who will be required to work within its confines. As one travels from grade to the upper most platform, the area must be free of dangerous obstructions when attempting to gain access to values, instruments or exit the tower in an emergency.
3.2
Operation Modern technology rarely requires constant attention on trayed towers. When required, access to valve handwheels and instrumentation should be placed in such a way that a minimum amount of time is required to perform the function.
3.3
Maintenance Features to be considered for towers include providing davits at the top of towers for handling large relief valves, placing manways in a way to facilitate removal of internals to grade, locating davits or hinges on manway covers in a way it does not obstruct other required maintenance or access, provide
PAGE 4 OF
removable platform sections if necessary to accommodate maintenance below, etc. 3.4 Economics Financial impact of one design over another is one feature that is often overlooked when engaged in development of a tower layout. Setting the bottom tangent line at the true minimum elevation; arranging internal and external piping in such a way that platforming can be minimized and weighing the cost of increasing the vessel wall thickness to directly support a vertical reboiler over a support from grade requiring foundations, steel structure, etc. 4.0 INITIATE TRAYED TOWER LAYOUT (Refer to Figure 18) The following approach is recommended when the design of a fractionation tower is initiated. a. b. c. Verify all documentation to be used is the latest available issue. Set tower bottom tangent line elevation (see 4.1). Establish tray orientation based upon review of all governing criteria (see 4.2). Start layout by working from the top of tower downward (see 5.0). Utilize internal piping whenever possible to maximize exterior layout. Work closely with stress/support engineers throughout design. When locating nozzles and manways, be sure vessel internals, such as tray supports or internal piping or tray configurations will not impede maintenance or operation.
d. e. f. g.
4.1
Establish Tower Elevation - Figure 1 The three prime factors listed below should be considered when attempting to set the bottom tangent line elevation include:
PAGE 5 OF
4.1.1 Pump NPSH The Process/Project engineer is responsible to supply the pump NPSH requirements for all pump circuits. 4.1.2 Thermosyphon Reboiler Requirements The project process engineer is responsible to establish the dimension from the vessel tangent line to the centerline of a thermosyphon reboiler. When a vertical reboiler is used, adequate clearances must be given to remove the lower channel section. 4.1.3 Piping Clearances Should the pump head requirement or reboiler dimension be a non-issue in a layout, operator clearance under the liquid outlet line to adjacent equipment may be the factor which sets the tangent line elevation. All factors must be reviewed before a final elevation can be transmitted to a vessel vendor. Should none of the above factors be relevant, the vessel tangent line may be set at the minimum practical elevation. 4.2 Establish Tray Orientations a. The two primary piping circuits which normally impact tray orientation are the feed nozzle and reboiler connection. The feed nozzle may have one or a multiple of external connections with an array of internal piping configurations. See Figure 4. Three typical feed arrangements are: (1) (2) (3) single feed nozzle with two possible orientations. double feed nozzle with two possible orientations. single feed nozzle with a multiple of orientation options.
b.
A designer should investigate which single feed nozzle arrangement (#1 or #3) would be most advantageous for the optimum tower layout, should this option be possible.
PAGE 6 OF
c.
For Bechtel preferred internal piping and tray details see Drawings B501, 502, 503 and 504. Should the feed nozzle not be a deciding factor, refer to the reboiler piping requirements in paragraph e. Since the preferred reboiler piping arrangement is the most direct route, coming off the bottom tray downcomer now comes into play in setting tray orientations. A stress engineer should approve the proposed layout before assuming the selected nozzle location will work for the piping. Scheme (A) in Figure 2 is an example of an optimum design for the reboiler inlet line. Scheme (B) shows one of a number of arrangements for the reboiler return line. Tray orientations are unaffected by draw-off nozzles located in the bottom head of the tower. These nozzles may be located at any orientation to suit. Method of support for vertical reboilers needs to be established as soon as reliable design data becomes available. See Figure 3. Direct support off the vessel are shown in scheme (A) and (B) which will require a thicker wall thickness, but a normally less complex piping system. Scheme (C) shows an independent support from grade. While it normally does not effect the vessel wall thickness, it requires a support structure, foundations and generally a more complex piping system to compensate growth differential between the tower and the stationary structure. Refer to 5.12, paragraph a. One remaining item to establish at this time is to set the general orientation of manways, as shown in Figure 5. The most common location is opposite the piperack or that direction maintenance is most likely to be performed. When selecting the orientation, be sure entrance into the tower is not obstructed by internal piping, downcomers, tray supports and is over the tray below avoiding the downcomer area as much as practical. Swing manway cover away from high activity area and away from ladders when possible.
d.
e.
f.
g.
5.0 5.1
TOWER LAYOUT FROM TOP DOWN Vapor Overhead Line
PAGE 7 OF
The first order of business is to select the routing of the vapor overhead line. This line is normally run to a condenser located in an adjacent structure or over the piperack directly in front of the tower. Consideration for flexibility will most likely determine what segment of the tower facing the piperack the line will be located. See Figure 6. The most direct route may apply if no flexibility concern exists, assuming the line can span the horizontal distance from the tower to the condenser header. Locating the line along the 0 axis would provide a moderate "leg" for stress while routing the line away from the condenser would allow greater flexibility should it be necessary. This issue must be worked with a stress engineer as the design is developed. The vapor overhead line may exit the tower in one of two general locations. The most common is shown in scheme (A) off the top head. A variation of this design would be the elimination of the flanged nozzle for a butt weld connection for very large O.D. lines. This would most likely require client approval, but should be considered for economic reasons. The second approach, scheme (C), utilizes an internal pipe exiting the top side of the vessel just below the tangent line. This design may eliminate the need for a top head platform. As with all lines at similar equipment, the piping will be supported as close to the top tangent or nozzle as possible. Additional items normally found on vapor overhead lines may include, temperature connections, inhibitor injections, relief valves and vents. 5.2 Top Head Platform Potential variations found at top head platforms are shown in Figure 7. The relief valve system is the next feature to be considered. It may be an open or closed system, with or without block valves and bypass. Scheme A shows the two variations for an open system, without block valves. The ideal location for the relief valve would be off the top of the overhead line, discharging at least 10'/3M above the platform assuming there are no other platforms at higher elevations in close proximity to this point. Should the valve be too high, the inlet line can come off the vertical portion of the overhead line which would enable the valve to be set at a lower elevation. Davits for tower maintenance are commonly located on the top head platform. They handle vessel intervals and large relief valves, 4" x 6" and above. The davit should preferably be located in a corner of the platform. It must be able to swing over the relief valve to be maintained and be moved to the specified drop zone for tower maintenance. The centerline elevation must permit the lifting
PAGE 8 OF
device to clear the highest item to be handled. The lifted load of the heaviest single component must be identified either from the vessel engineer or relief valve vendor. The vessel vent should be located in the most convenient place to accommodate operator maintenance and access on the top head platform. 5.3 Closed Relief System Closed relief systems require special consideration before the valve or valves can be located. See Figure 8. Will there be an economic advantage to locate the valve at a lower platform elevation? Can a lower platform accommodate the relief valve without significantly increasing steel cost which may offset any piping material saving by being set at the lower elevation? Both options should thoroughly be investigated before taking the design further down the tower. 5.4 Reflux Nozzle Figure 9 shows variations of internal piping arrangements for the reflux nozzle. Scheme A and B are fixed arrangements, while scheme C enables the reflux nozzle to be oriented at any desired orientation within a 270 arc. This offers multiple opportunities to develop an optimum layout for the reflux line. 5.5 Instrument Nozzles - Figure 10. Pressure and temperature connections on trayed towers require special attention when attempting to set nozzle locations. Pressure connections are located in the vapor space just below the designated tray as shown on the P&I diagrams. They should not be located in the downcomer area. Temperature connections must be located in the liquid space or 2"/.050 above the designated tray in the downcomer area. It is important to check the length of the thermowell. It may interfere with the downcomer as shown in the auxiliary plan. An alternate solution is shown by setting the nozzle in the "hillside position." This approach is only recommended if the length of the thermowell can not be reduced. Level instruments such as controllers and gauge glasses are commonly located on bridles in the liquid section, at the bottom of the tower. The elevation of these nozzles is determined by the amount of liquid being controlled for maximum operation. The specific elevations required are shown on the vessel instrument sketch. A preferred and alternate location is shown if a baffle plate is required.
PAGE 9 OF
5.6
Preferred Component Locations - Figure 11. Optimum tower layouts generally follow the following guidelines: a. Plan to run piping down the tower on the side facing the pipe rack, away from manways, instrumentation, ladders, etc. for small diameter towers of 4'/1.2 or less, lines should be grouped for common support. (See Figure 17). Locate the manways toward the maintenance access area, away from the piperack. Locate items such as bridles with level instruments at dead end of platforms if possible, thereby eliminating normal operator travel around such items. Ladders should be located between the main piping area and the segment of platforming, manways, instruments, etc.
b.
c.
d.
5.7
Miscellaneous Nozzle Considerations - Figure 12 When initiating a tower layout the following information can be used to develop nozzle locations and elevations. a. Projections are established from the vessel inside diameter to face of flange, and vary depending on the nozzle size. Top head nozzles are set from the platform elevation (top of steel) to the face of flange. The dimension varies with the nozzle rating. The maximum distance a nozzle can be set in the top head from the vessel centerline is shown in detail "A". Platform penetrations for nozzles and lines are shown in Figure 15. Liquid outlet nozzle in the bottom head may have minimum dimensional requirements. If a valve is bolted to the nozzle, a tower drain connection is likely to be needed. Clearance between nozzles, and the drain nozzle
b.
c.
d. e.
PAGE 10 OF
10
flange and skirt access opening reinforcement or fireproofing must be checked. 5.8 Tray Details - Figure 13 There are various types of tray designs, packing, internal piping details to affect liquid vapor contact. Common tray designs include single or double pass bubble cap, sieve and perforated design. As the liquid flows across the tray surface and down to the tray below through the downcomer area, the hot vapor rises through the bubble caps and eventually out the overhead line to a condenser. Trays are numbered, with the top tray normally being number one, the second, number two and so on. The P&IDs will identify which tray a nozzle is to be set at. The piping designer using the basic data outlined in this guide, knowledge of good industry practice, safety, maintenance operation and economics must orient all trays, locate all nozzles, piping, instruments, ladders, platforms, davits, etc. Another type of tray is the chimney type. When called for, the orientation of trays above and below the chimney tray may vary as desired. Other towers have multiple diameters. One arrangement uses a single downcomer in the transition section, with a feed nozzle to the tray below. Another variation uses internal piping from the downcomer to the tray below. Both enable the trays below to be oriented differently from the upper section of the tower. This enables a designer to optimize the external layout for piping, platforms, ladders, etc. 5.9 Packed Bed Sections - Figures14 and 18 Packed bed sections use metal rings for liquid vapor contact instead of trays. The rings are packed into specific sections of the tower, called beds, supported by cross grid bars. They are spaced close enough together to prevent the rings from falling through. The supports are designed to allow vapor to rise and liquid flow down. Liquid is fed in at the top of each bed through a distributor pipe. Unlike trayed towers, there are no special orientation considerations of these beds, distributor or packing supports. 5.10 Platform Details - Figure 15
PAGE 11 OF
11
Tower platforms should enable plant personnel to work safely during normal operations and maintenance, without being costly and excessive in size. The minimum size for top head, crossover or normal operations can be seen in this figure. Bracket spacing should be standardized whenever possible. Ladder runs must adhere to certain industry and code regulations as shown in the elevation view of the tower. No single ladder may not exceed 30'/10.0. Should a ladder service more than one platform, the platforms must be set at an elevation that is consistent with the rung spacing of 12"/.300. Dimension "A" shall be in even increments or rung spacing. Avoid setting two platforms serviced by one ladder at the same elevation for operator safety. Elevation difference must be 2'/600 minimum. Ladder cages are not needed for platforms whose elevation is under 20'/6.10. Step through ladders are permitted. One rule to remember when designing any platforming: never force plant personnel to go up a higher elevation, when attempting emergency egress off a tower. Platform penetration sizes should be consistent with the specifics of each case. Clearance should be given to bare pipe, insulated pipe, and flanged connections as necessary. It is not necessary to allow for clearance of insulation on flanges, since it is likely the insulation will be removed prior to removal of the flanged pipe. 5.11 Optimizing Tower Layout - Figure 16 Typical issues a designer must confront include such things as: a. A process suggested arrangement for a feed nozzle would put the block valve away from any planned platforming. By employing one of the alternate feed nozzle arrangements, the internal pipe can be set at any desired orientation. This would put the block valve over the desired platform layout. The reboiler draw-off nozzle has a major impact on tray orientations. Be sure to deal with this circuit early in the tower layout. Try to plan on locating major level instruments at the dead end of platforms. Since they project out into the operator access space, the size
b.
c.
PAGE 12 OF
12
of platform can normally be reduced if not required to traverse around such items 5.12 Reboiler and Pipe Support Considerations - Figure 17. A piping designer should have a good working knowledge of supports when engaged in the layout of fractionation towers. a. Vertical Reboiler - if the reboiler is supported from the vessel, the elevation of the lug on the reboiler must be set 1"/.025 above the maintenance support bracket on the tower. During turnaround periods, when the channel end must be removed for tube maintenance, the 1"/.025 gap is shimmed, thereby becoming the reboiler support. Pipe supports on large diameter towers normally consist of a structural bracket off the tower in close proximity to the line being supported or guided. A dummy leg is welded to the pipe at an orientation which will allow the load to be transferred from the pipe to the vessel support bracket. For small diameter towers, individually supporting and guiding pipe becomes more of a problem due to its limited size. Immediately after supporting each line close to its nozzle, the lines should be routed and grouped as if a "vertical piperack" down the tower. By lining up the back of pipe, common structural members may be effectively used for supports and guides.
b.
c.
6.0
REFERENCE DRAWINGS The following Bechtel drawings should as reference material when engaged in the layout of a fractionation tower. Subject - Feed and Vapor Overhead Nozzles - Transition Section - Bottom Section - Drawoff Details Dwg. No. B-501 B-502 B-503 B-504
PAGE 13 OF
13
- Manway Davits - Davit Details - Circular Checker Plate Platforms - Circular Grating Platforms
C-509 M-507 M-513 M-517
PAGE 14 OF
14
PAGE 15 OF
15
PAGE 16 OF
16
PAGE 17 OF
17
PAGE 18 OF
18
PAGE 19 OF
19
PAGE 20 OF
20
PAGE 21 OF
21
PAGE 22 OF
22
PAGE 23 OF
23
PAGE 24 OF
24
PAGE 25 OF
25
PAGE 26 OF
26
PAGE 27 OF
27
PAGE 28 OF
28
PAGE 29 OF
29
PAGE 30 OF
30
PAGE 31 OF
31
PAGE 32 OF
32
PAGE 33 OF
33
PAGE 34 OF
34
PAGE 35 OF
35
PAGE 36 OF
36
PAGE 37 OF
37
PAGE 38 OF
38
PAGE 39 OF
39
PAGE 40 OF
40

Tower Piping

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Tower Piping

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BECHTEL PLANT DESIGN & PIPING ENGINEERING DESIGN GUIDE FOR FRACTIONATION TOWERS 3DG P22 001, Rev.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No.

TOWER LAYOUT FROM TOP DOWN Vapor Overhead Line

C-509 M-507 M-513 M-517

You might also like