Session: CS-11-02 Integrity Management

Paper Number: 61470

Start Time: Wednesday, July 14, 2021, 09:00 AM

61470 - Safety Assessment of Long Term Serviced Pressure Vessels: A Case Study of Typical Refining and Chemical Plants in China 

The safety and risk of the long term serviced pressure vessels, especially which serviced for more than 20 years, has become one of the most concerned issues in refining and chemical industry and government safety supervision in China. According to the Chinese pressure vessel safety specification TSG 21-2016 “Supervision Regulation on Safety Technology for Stationary Pressure Vessel”, if necessary, safety assessment should be performed for the pressure vessel which reaches the design service life or exceeds 20 years without a definite design life. However, the safety and risk conditions of most pressure vessels have little changes after long term serviced because their failure modes are time-independent. Thus the key problem is to determine which devices have time-dependent failure modes and should be assessed. This study provided a case study on 16 typical refining and chemical plants including 1870 pressure vessels serviced more than 10 years. The quantitative risk and damage mechanisms were calculated based on API 581, the time-dependent and time-independent failure modes were identified, and the typical pressure vessels were assessed based on API 579. Taking the high pressure hydrogenation plant as an example, this study gave the detailed assessment results and conclusions. The proposed assessment method and procedure in this study are essential for the safety supervision and extending life of long term serviced pressure vessels in China.

Presenting Author: Zhiyuan Han China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute

Authors:

Zhiyuan Han China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute
Guoshan Xie China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute
Haiyi Jiang China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute
Xiaowei Li China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute