BasicDepressuringWhy15minutes?

Inpreviousposting,wehavediscussedthatPSVwouldntprovideadequateprotectionfor
vesseloffirecase.Therefore,depressuringcanbeappliedforanothersafetylayer.
CommonlytheplantareaisdividedintotheESDZone.EachESDzonemaycontainoneor
moreequipments.ESDVorSDVvalvesareprovidedineachESDZonetoisolatethesystem
zone.Incaseoffire,asystemwillbeisolatedbythoseSDVvalves.Thentheinventoryfluid
(commonlygasphaseonly)inthesystemwillbereleasedtoflarethroughBDVvalve.
CommonlyoneBDVisprovidedforonesystemzone,butinsomecases,itispossibleto
providemorethanoneBDVsinonesystemzone.
Seethepicture.
EDP(EmergencyDepressuring)isgenerally
initiatedbymanualpushbutton.Incaseof
fire,theoperatorwillpushtheEDPpush
buttoninthecontrolroom.Thatwillinitiate
SDVvalvesclosingandBDVvalvesopening.
Thehydrocarbonfluidwillbereleasedtoflare
sothatthepressureofthesystemwillbe
depressurizedtolowerpressureatcertain
time(recommendationfromAPISTD521,
decreasethepressureto100psigor50%of
thesystemdesignpressurewithin15
minutes)
Forexample,Ifapoolfireexposestheun
wettedcarbonsteelvessel,itwilltakeabout
15minutestoheatthevesselwalltoaround
1200F(veryclosetomaterialsallowable
stresscondition).Ifthevesselis
depressurizedwithinthe15minto50%of
theinitialpressure,thenthetimetorupture
wouldincreasetoabout23hour"
Hopethispicturewillgivebetterexplanation
Forthicknessofvessellessthan1inch,the
systemisdepressurizedto100psig,andfor
morethan1inchthicknesscanbe
depressurizedto50%ofdesignpressure.
Thedepressuringtimecanbelongerand
lessthan15minutes.Thedepressuringtime
of15minutesisonlyanexampleinAPISTD
521whichisapplicableforcarbonsteel
vesselwithhasthicknessgreaterthan1
inch.
Considerationoflimitingflarecapacity,the
depressuringtimelongerthan15minutes
maybeapplied.Itwillresultinlower
depressuringload.Consideringofthe
maximumreductionofthevesselstress,
vesselwiththicknesslessthan1inch,
generallyrequiresfasterdepressuringrate.
Thefasterthedepressuringtime,thehigher
thedepressuringload.Andforthevesselwith
stainlesssteelmaterial,thedepressuringrate
maybelongerthan15minutesfor1inch
thicknessormore.
Basedonmyexperience,manycompanieshavetheirownmanualforconductingdepressuringstudy.Generally,
themaximumdepressuringtimeof15minutesisapplied.Buteachcompanyhasdifferenceconsiderationof
thicknessvesselanddepressurizedpressure.Somecompaniesapplythatforthicknessgreaterthan24.5mm,
thepressureisdepressurizedto50%ofdesignpressure,butothercompaniesapplythatforthicknessgreater
than60mmthepressurecanbedepressurizedto50%ofdesignpressure.

IhaveeverreaddiscussioninCheresources(checkhereandhere)aboutthedepressuringtime,oneofthe
participantssaysthathiscompanyappliesthedepressuringtimewhichdependsonthevesselthickness.For
thicknessgreaterthan25.4mm,15minutesdepressuringtimeisapplied.Thedepressuringtimewillbe
decreased3minutesforeach5mmdecreaseinthickness.
Yesterday,IcheckedtoAPISTD521,(FifthEdition,Jan2007),figure1(section2.15.1.2.2),thegraphicshow
PlateTemperaturevsTimeAfterFireforcarbonsteel3.2mm,12.7mmand25.4mmthickness.Itisverylogic
thattherequireddepressuringtimeforthosevesselaredifferenteachother.Inmyopinion,itisbettertostatein
manualthedepressuringtimewillbedecreased,say2or3orxxminutes,foreach5mmdecreaseinthickness.
Oh,,Imisssomethingimportant.Eventhoughthedepressuringtimeof15minutesisused,thedepressurization
willnotstopafter15minutesandthatthepressurewillcontinuetodecline.
Hahaha,,Iguessyoualreadyknowthat:D
Letsimagine,aPLANTisshutdownforannualmaintenancepurpose,thefiredoesnotexist,thenthesystemis
tobedepressurizedtoatmospherecondition.Inthiscase,thesystemisdepressurizedinadiabaticcondition,
whichmeansnoheatinputtothesystem.Duringdepressurization,thepressuredecreases,andthetemperature
decreasesaswell.Thefinaltemperatureofadiabaticdepressuringcouldbeverylow.AsProcessEngineer,we
haveresponsibilitytodeterminetheMinimumMetalDesignTemperature(MDMT)foreachsystemzonebased
ontheadiabaticdepressuringcase
Myfriend,thatsallIcansharetoday.Hopefullyitisuseful.
Haveagreatday,myfriend...
Talkbackincommentsectionbelowandletmeknowyouropinion