Back pressure limits

In addition to the above back pressure limitations based on valve capacity, balanced bellows PR valves are also subject to back pressure limitations based on the mechanical strength of the bellows or bellows bonnet, or the valve outlet flange rating. The back pressure specified for the valve is governed by the lowest back pressure permitted by these various criteria. 

Balanced bellows PR valves need not be restricted to the same built-up back pressure limit (10% of set pressure) as are conventional valves, since they are not subject to chattering from this cause. However, maximum back pressure is limited by capacity and in some cases by the mechanical design strength limitations of parts such as the outlet flange, bellows, or valve bonnet. 

Effect of Temperature on Back Pressure Limits of PR Valves - Maximum back pressure limits are specified by the valve vendor. Usually the vendor s specification is given to a reference temperature (normally 38 °C) for both conventional and bellows valves. These limits must be reduced for higher temperatures, as follows ... 

Back Pressure - The combined atmosphere discharge system must be designed to comply with the superimposed back pressure limitations. 

A trial and error estimate is made for determining the diameter of the flare header based upon the maximum relieving flare load and considering the back pressure limitation of 10 percent for conventional valves and 40 percent for balanced type valves. Note, however, a single main header in most cases turns out to be too large to be economically feasible. Line sizing procedures are discussed in detail in the next subsection. 

The precolumn has to be as small as necessary to prevent peak broadening and must have a high-pressure capability. It should not present back-pressure limitations during sampling at high flow rates it should be easily replaceable and easy to repack, and should be compatible with all eluents generally used in LC. 

Fig. 3. Here, we have created the same diagram as discussed above for a series of 5 cm columns packed with 5 tm, 3.5 tm, and 2.5 im particles. As we can see, for slow analyses the separation power increases with decreasing particle size. With the 5 im column, we reach a peak capacity of nearly 150 for a 30 min analysis, while with the 3.5 im column a value of around 180 is reached. This performance is surpassed by the 2.5 pm column, with a peak capacity of roughly 220 for this half-hour analysis. However, for very rapid analyses, the column back-pressure limits the performance of the column. For a 1 min separation, the 3.5 pm column shows a somewhat better performance than the 5 pm column, but the peak capacity for the 2.5 pm column is lower than what was achievable with the 3.5 pm column. The reason for this is that the 2.5 pm column reaches the pressure limit imposed by the instrument. The main explanation for this is that, at a fixed column length, smaller particles reduce the flow rate that can be used. This can also be seen in Fig. 3. On the other hand, the 5 cm 3.5 pm column is ideal for analysis times in the 2-4 min range. Under these conditions, the 3.5 pm column exhibits a better separation power than the 5 pm column and still exceeds the performance of the 2.5 pm column.

The correct treatment of the mechanism (equation (A3.4.25), equation (A3.4.26) and equation (A3.4.27), which goes back to Lindemann [18] and Hinshelwood [19], also describes the pressure dependence of the effective rate constant in the low-pressure limit ([M] < [CHoNC], see section A3.4.8.2). 

Because of increased emphasis on maximizing cogenerated power, newer plants are trying to utilize back-pressure turbines only in applications where efficiencies above 70% can be attained. This typically means limiting the applications to the large (>1000 kW) drives, and usiag small machines only where they are necessary for the safe shutdown of the unit. Multistage turbiaes are used even on the smaller loads. 

It should be noted that the highest possible absorption rates will occur under conditions in which the hquid-phase resistance is negligible and the equilibrium back pressure of the gas over the solvent is zero. Such situations would exist, for instance, for NH3 absorption into an acid solution, for SO9 absorption into an alkali solution, for vaporization of water into air, and for H9S absorption from a dilute-gas stream into a strong alkali solution, provided there is a large excess of reagent in solution to consume all the dissolved gas. This is known as the gas-phase mass-transfer limited condition, wrien both the hquid-phase resistance and the back pressure of the gas equal zero. Even when the reaction is sufficiently reversible to allow a small back pres-... 

Tlie safety valve is similar to the relief valve except it is designed to open fiillv, or pop, with onlv a small amount of pressure over the rated limit. Conventional safety valves are sensitive to dovvmstream pressure and niav have iinsatisfactorv operating characteristics in variable back pressure applications. The balanced safety relief valve is available and minimizes the effect of dovvmstream pressure on performance. 

Turbine back pressure. In this ease, the operator is relatively limited sinee he eannot do anything about the downstream design. If there is some obstruetion in the dueting to the HRSG that ean be removed or if the duet has eollapsed in an area the duet eould be replaeed. 

Turbine back pressure. In this case, the operator is relatively limited since the operator cannot do anything about the downstream design. Unless there is some obstruction in the ducting, which can be removed, or if the duct has collapsed in a section the duct could be replaced. 

The upper limit in exhaust pressure for back pressure multistage turbines varies between 350 psia and 500 psia. For small, single-stage, back-pressure turbines, the standard is somewhere between atmospheric and 65 p ia. 

P is the driving pressure and the second term in the brackets represents the back pressure of trapped air. The back pressure can be neglected when the driving pressure is appreciable. With this simplification, integration of Eq. 28 gives the limiting distance of penetration JCmax as... 

For applications involving unusually high superimposed back pressure, a pilot operated valve may be the only possible balanced valve that is commercially available, because of the mechanical limitations which apply to bellows. 

Conventional PR valves and discharge systems should be designed such that built-up back pressure does not exceed 10% of set pressure (both measured in psig), to avoid chattering problems. In the case where a pressure relief valve system is sized for fire conditions, with 21 % overpressure, built-up back pressure up to 21 % of set pressure is permissible. However, the lower rates resulting from other contingencies still must meet the 10% limitation. 

In general, the total back pressure on a balanced bellows pressure relief valve (superimposed plus built-up) should be limited to 50% of set pressure, because of the marked effect of higher back pressures on valve capacity, even when appropriate correction factors are used in sizing. In exceptional cases, such as a balanced bellows PR valve discharging into another vessel, total pressure up to 70% of set pressure may be used. 

It is important to note that back pressure affects balanced PR valve capacities in the same way as for conventional valves, and appropriate factors are included in the sizing procedures. They are subject to the same recommended limits of maximum total back pressure (superimposed plus built-up) as conventional valves. In the case of balanced bellows valves, mechanical considerations must also be evaluated, since they may limit the maximum permissible back pressure. 

Where outlet pressure losses exceed 10%, bellows valves are often considered. However, substitution of a bellows valve for a conventional valve may not necessarily solve the chatter problem since debits associated with bellows valves reduce the rated capacity of this type valve. Hence, the valve has a tendency to become oversized depending on the amount of back pressure encountered. For this reason, revision of outlet piping to reduce the back pressure within the 10% limit is strongly preferred to the alternative of installing a bellows valve. 

Other types of pressure-relief valves do not depend upon the back pressure for their performances. However, to ensure that the safety valves work at their maximum capacity, back pressure is limited to 50 percent of the relief valve set pressure. In the balanced bellows type valve, the spring does not act directly on the disk. Instead, it serves on a bellows first, which in turn acts on the disk. In case of the piston type, it works on the same principle as the bellows type, except that the bellows is replaced by a piston (see Figure 17B). The cross-sectional area of both the piston and the bellows is the same as the inlet nozzle of the valve and the effect of the back pressure on the top and the bottom of the disk creates equal balancing forces. That is, P,A is always equal to F, as shown in Figure 17B. 

The back pressure developed at the downstream section of any pressure-relief valve connected to the same headers should not exceed the allowable limit, i.e., 10 percent of the set pressure in psig for the conventional type and 40 to 50 percent of the set pressure in psia for the balanced type valve. 

Back-pressure can affect either the set pressure or the capacity of a relief valve. The set pressure is the pressure at which the relief valve begins to open. Capacity is the maximum flow rate that the relief valve will relieve. The set pressure for a conventional relief valve increases directly with back-pressure. Conventional valves can be compensated for constant back-pressure by lowering the set pressure. For self-imposed back-pressure—back-pressure due to the valve itself relieving—-there is no way to compensate. In production facility design, the back-pressure is usually not constant. It is due to the relief valve or other relief valves relieving into the header. Conventional relief valves should be limited to 10% back-pressure due to the effect of back-pressure on the set point. 

The set points for pilot-operated and balanced-bellows relief valves are unaffected by back-pressure, so they are able to tolerate higher backpressure than conventional valves. For pilot-operated and balanced-bellows relief valves, the capacity is reduced as the back-pressure goes above a certain limit. 

Note The curves above represent a compromise of the values recommended by a number of relief valve manufacturers and may be used when the make of the valve or the actual critical f ow pressure point for the vapor or gas is unknown. When the make is known, the manufacturer should be consulted tor the correction factor. These curves are for set pressures of 50 pounds per square inch gauge and above. They are limited to back-pressure below critical flow pressure for a given set pressure. For subcntical flow back-pressures below 50 pounds per square inch gauge, the rnanufacturer must be consulted tor values of Kk. 

In summary, the back-pressure for relief valves should be limited to the following values unless the valve is compensated. We do not recommend using a relief valve with higher back-pressure than shown below without consulting a person knowledgeable in relief valve sizing and relief system design. 

When the relieving scenarios are defined, assume line sizes, and calculate pressure drop from the vent tip back to each relief valve to assure that the back-pressure is less than or equal to allowable for each scenario. The velocities in the relief piping should be limited to 500 ft/sec, on the high pressure system and 200 ft/sec on the low pressure system. Avoid sonic flow in the relief header because small calculation errors can lead to large pressure drop errors. Velocity at the vent or flare outlet should be between 500 ft/sec and MACH 1 to ensure good dispersion. Sonic velocity is acceptable at the vent tip and may be chosen to impose back-pressure on (he vent scrubber. 

Percent absolute back-pressure is 43%, which is less than the 50% limit for pilot-operated valves. 

As the porosities of PDVB gels increase above 10 A, the pressure limits drop, with 2500 psi being the maximum usable pressure for 10 A, 10 A, and mixed-bed columns. Because the normal operating pressures in most solvents for these columns tend to be in the range of 1000 psi or less for a 10 X 500-mm column, there is seldom an operational problem. Figure 13.8 shows the resolution of a typical mixed-bed column run in chloroform at 1.5 ml min yielding a back pressure of 700 psi and running polystyrene standards. 

A longer column is preferred because of a greater processing capacity nd an increased number of plates, as long as the back pressure does not exceed the upper limit and the nonuniform displacement of the solution and the solvent is not serious. The theoretical plate in HOPC is defined as a section in the column in which equivalently full exchange of all of the polymer components... 

One potential problem associated with column coupling in reversed phase is relatively high back-pressure ( 2600 psi at 1 mL miir ). This will place a limit on the flow rate, which in turn limits the further reduction of analysis time. Also, compared to the new polar organic mode, the retention in reversed phase on coupled columns is deviated more from the average retention on the individual stationary phases. 

In general, only the reciprocating compressor allows for reliable flexibility in applying variable volumetric flowrate and variable pressure ratio in an operation. The rotary compressor does not allow for variation in either (except that of pressure through the decompression of the air or gas if the system back pressure is below the design pressure of the machine). The dynamic compressors are designed for specific volumetric flowrates and pressure ratios and are not very useful when these design limits are altered. 

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