Basic requirements for the structure of pressure vessels

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Strength: The container must have sufficient strength to ensure production safety and personal safety. In design, components are usually made to have equal strength, as this is the most material-efficient approach. However, sometimes it is intentional to design a certain component to have a lower load-bearing capacity; in this way, if the container is overloaded, that component will fail first, preventing the entire container from being damaged. Such parts are known as safety parts, such as rupture disks on pressure vessels. Stiffness: The stiffness must be sufficient to prevent deformation of the container. Sometimes the wall thickness of a container is determined by stiffness rather than strength. Durability: The durability of a container is determined by the required service life. The service life of the main equipment in petrochemical plants is generally 10 to 12 years, although it can also be determined based on operating conditions. The durability of steel containers and equipment is largely determined by corrosion; for highly corrosive media, appropriate materials should be selected to ensure durability. Safety: Since many of the materials handled in some factories are flammable, explosive, or toxic, safety is a very important issue in industrial production. To ensure the safety of containers, it is necessary not only to guarantee sufficient strength and stiffness to prevent the container from breaking, but also adequate sealing to avoid accidents caused by leaks. Manufacturing feasibility: Steel containers should be designed in such a way that their manufacture is straightforward and quality can be ensured. For welded structures, it is necessary to avoid welding defects and reduce thermal stress. For cast parts, it is important to ensure that the casting process is simple, with minimal risks of defects such as shrinkages and cracks. Complex processing steps should be avoided as much as possible in order to reduce the amount of work required. During design, standardized components should be used as much as possible to reduce costs and facilitate maintenance. Operation and maintenance: The structural design of personnel access points and handholes should facilitate maintenance, etc. To save materials, the selected materials should meet the requirements of the manufacturing process (such as corrosion resistance, tolerance to high and low temperatures, etc.), but these requirements should also be appropriate – neither too high nor too low. Structurally, low material consumption should be ensured. Easy to transport: The size, shape, and weight of the container should take into account the possibilities of land and water transportation. For large and heavy containers, they can be manufactured in sections, transported in sections, and installed on site.