In recent years, a large number of pressure vessels for petrochemical plants constructed in China in the 20th century have been in service for 20 years and above. According to Chinese pressure vessel safety code TSG 21-2016 “Supervision Regulations on Safety Technology of Stationary Pressure Vessels”, if the pressure vessel has been in service for more than 20 years, it shall be considered to have reached its design service life. For these equipments, if they are scrapped blindly, this will cause huge economic losses. However, if they are not scientifically evaluated and continue to be used blindly, it will inevitably bring great safety risks. In this paper, for typical pressure vessels such as large LPG spherical tanks, pressure swing adsorbers and coke tower of delayed coking unit, the failure mode, mechanism and damage evolution law are analyzed through a large number of failure accident investigations and experimental studies. Based on this, the pressure vessel classification method of time-independent and time-dependent failure modes is proposed; for the time-independent failure mode, the target life determination principle and inspection maintenance guarantee strategy of pressure vessels are proposed; for time-dependent failure mode, the safety assessment and residual life prediction method of pressure vessels with and without defects are provided. Finally, the advices on amendment to the relevant regulations on pressure vessels are proposed. The above achievements can provide guidance for rationally determining the safety status levels of pressure vessels and scientifically extending their service life.


Safety Assessment of Pressure Vessels in Service for More Than 20 Years

Division / Sponsors: 
Pressure Vessels & Piping (PVP)


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/PVP/PVP2020/volume/83815

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