High pressure vessel ASME VIII, Division

In 1979 because neither Division of Section VIII was suited to the design of high pressure vessels, the ASME Board on Pressure Technology,... 

Codes Standards approved the estabUshment of a Special Working Group for high pressure vessels under the ASME Subcommittee on Pressure Vessels (Section VIII). The main design criteria, which are likely to be incorporated in a new Division of Section VIII, have been set out (149). 

High pressure vessels can be built to ASME Section VIII, Divisions 1, 2 or 3. People tend to discount Division... 

High pressure vessels should be designed to either Division 2 or Division 3, Section VIII of the ASME Code. This chapter evaluates the criteria of each division and its impact on the wall thickness of the vessel shell. There are two basic criteria for each division. They are Design by Rules and Design by Analysis. It should be noted that only Division 3 allows credit for pre-stress (autofrettage) for layered construction. 

It was not until January 1979 that layered vessels were included in die ASME Code, almost 50 years after they were first introduced. Also in 1979 the ASME Policy Board, Codes and Standards, approved the establishment of a special working group for high pressure vessels under Section VIII. This effort would ultimately culminate in the issuance of Division 3 of Section VIII in 1998. 

Mraz, G.J. and Kendall, D.P. (eds) (2000) Criteria of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 3 Alternative Rules for Construction of High Pressure Vessels, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers,... 

Vessels for high-temperature service may be beyond the temperature limits of the stress tables in the ASME Codes. Section VIII, Division 1, makes provision for construction of pressure vessels up to 650°C (1200°F) for carbon and low-alloy steel and up to 815°C (1500°F) for stainless steels (300 series). If a vessel is required for temperatures above these values and above 103 kPa (15 Ibf/in ), it would be necessary in a code state, to get permission from the state authorities to build it as a special project. Above 815°C (1500°F), even the 300 series stainless steels are weak, and creep rates increase rapidly. If the metal which resists the pressure operates at these temperatures, the vessel pressure and size will be limited. The vessel must also be expendable because its life will be short. Long exposure to high temperature may cause the metal to deteriorate and become brittle. Sometimes, however, economics favor this type of operation. 

It is recommended that the ASME Code, Section VIII, Division 1 be used for the construction of CRM lined metallic vessels. The use of Code construction is only required where the operating pressure exceeds 15 psig, but it should be remembered that a CRM lining can swell and exert high stresses. 

Pressure vessels are made in all shapes and sizes, from a few centimeters (cm) in diameter to 50 meters (m) or more in diameter. The pressure may be as low as 0.25 kilopascals (kPa) to as high as 2000 megapascals (MPa). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 1, specifies a range of internal pressures from 0.1 MPa to 30 MPa. Pressure equipment, such as the American Petroleum Institute (API) storage tanks are designed to restrict internal pressure to no more than that generated by the static head of the fluid contained in the tank. 

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