abstract

The objective of this paper is to design an annular tank. The annular tank is to store
various criticality liquids used in todays industry. The initial over all dimensions of the
annular tank are determined from the capacity of the stored liquids. The design function
is performed using the ASME Code Sec VIII Div 1. The annular tank design is broken up
into (a) outer cylinder, (b) inner cylinder, (c) top cover, and (d) bottom head. It is
supported at the bottom. It is anchored at the top. The deflection of the annular space is
a critical requirement. Stresses are usually acceptable because the requirement is on the
deflection. For vacuum condition the outer cylinder can be treated for external pressure
and the inner cylinder can be treated for internal pressure. For internal pressure condition
the design pressure consists of working internal pressure plus static head. For this the
outer cylinder can be treated for internal pressure and the inner cylinder can be treated
for external pressure. The covers are designed for internal pressure at the bottom where
the pressure is the maximum. The designed dimensions are used to recalculate the
stresses for the annular tank. The dimensioned annular tank is modeled using STAAD III
finite element Software. The stresses from the finite element Software are compared to
the stresses obtained from recalculated stresses obtained using ASME Code Sec VIII Div
1. The difference in the stress values is explained. This papers main objective is to
compare the ASME Code to the finite element analysis. The design is found to be safe for
the specific configuration considered. In addition the annular tank is checked for
temperature and seismic load conditions, which the code does not address.