Session: CS-07-01 Recent Developments in ASME Codes and Standards-1

Paper Number: 123439

123439 - Overpressure Protection Requirements for Pressure Vessel 

Standards for boilers and pressure vessels are published in the Boiler and Pressure Vessels Code (BPVC) by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The intent of design and fabrication rules specified in the ASME BPVC is to provide safe and satisfactory performance for boilers and pressure vessels during their useful service lives.  However, compliance with these rules does not ensure a long service life, nor does it provide a minimum level of protection against plastic collapse (ductile rupture) when the loadings and environmental conditions are more severe that those represented in the design basis. Section VIII, Division 1 and Division 2 of the ASME BPVC provide mandatory requirements, specific prohibitions, and non-mandatory guidance for the design, fabrication, examination, inspection, testing, certification, and overpressure protection for pressure vessels that typically operate below 10,000 psig.  Division 1 provides design-by-rule requirements whereas alternative rules in Division 2 provides both design-by-rule and design-by-analysis requirements. These requirements apply specifically to pressure vessels that are containers for retaining pressure which operate above or below ambient pressure.  Design rules is Divisions 1 and 2 are used to determine the maximum allowable working pressure (MAWP) for a pressure vessel such that allowable stress limits for the materials of construction are not exceeded.  These stress limits also provide a design margin against plastic collapse equal to or greater than 1.5. The MAWP is an important pressure vessel parameter because it is used to establish the operating pressure for the pressure vessel, the hydrostatic or pneumatic test pressure required for marking and certifying the pressure vessel, and the maximum relieving and set pressures for the pressure relief devices that protect the pressure vessel from over pressurization events. 

Presenting Author: Mark Lower Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Presenting Author Biography: Mark Lower, Ph.D., P.E., is a program manager at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has worked in operations and energy-related R&D for over 30 years including areas of neutron sciences, battery manufacturing, additive manufacturing. He has performed several accident investigations for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and authored several technical papers on pressure safety. Mark is currently the Vice-Chair of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Standards Committee, and past-Chair of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pressure Safety Committee. He earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee. He holds several certifications from American Welding Association, the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors, and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Authors:

Mark Lower Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Charles Oland XCEL Engineering