Pipes/pipework

Material transfer requires pipework, valves, pumps, and compressors. Fugitive emissions occur from pipe flanges, valve glands, and pump and compressor seals. 

Filtration of viscose is not a straightforward chemical engineering process. The solution of cellulose xanthate contains some easy-to-deal-with undissolved pulp fibers, but also some gel-like material which is retarded rather than removed by the filters. The viscose is unstable and tends to form more gel as it ages. Its flow characteristics make the material close to the walls of any vessel or pipe move more slowly, get older, and gel more than the mainstream viscose. So while filtration can hold back gels arising from incomplete mixing, new gels can form in the pipework after the filters. 

Tolerance Whenever possible, equipment should tolerate poor installation or operation without failure. Expansion loops in pipework are more tolerant of poor installation than bellows are. Fixed pipes, or articulated arms, if rlexibihty is necessary, are fiiendher than noses. For most apphcations, metal is friendlier than glass or plastic. 

The protection station must be carefully maintained (see Section 10.5). The function of the rectifier should be monitored at monthly intervals. The pipe/soil potentials of the pipelines should be measured at least once a year. The IR-free potentials should be determined as far as possible by the switching method, especially when new pipework is installed and connected to the protection system. 

The electrolysis protection process using impressed current aluminum anodes allows uncoated and hot-dipped galvanized ferrous materials in domestic installations to be protected from corrosion. If impressed current aluminum anodes are installed in water tanks, the pipework is protected by the formation of a film without affecting the potability of the water. With domestic galvanized steel pipes, a marked retardation of the cathodic partial reaction occurs [15]. Electrolytic treatment alters the electrolytic characteristics of the water, as well as internal cathodic protection of the tank and its inserts (e.g., heating elements). The pipe protection relies on colloidal chemical processes and is applied only to new installations and not to old ones already attacked by corrosion. 

Liquids can also exert pressure due to thermal expansion. Table 4.15 provides an indication of pressure increases due to temperature increases for selected common liquids in full containers or pipes. Serious accidents can arise unless the design of rigid plant items such as pipework takes into account the changes in volume of liquids with temperature fluctuation by the following or combinations thereof ... 

In addition, they are usually constructed without isolation valves on the fuel supply lines. As a result the final connection in the pipework cannot be leak-tested. In practice, it is tested as far as possible at the manufacturer s works but often not leak-tested on-site. Reference 32 reviews the fuel leaks that have occurred, including a major explosion at a CCGT plant in England in 1996 due to the explosion of a leak of naphtha from a pipe joint. One man was seriously injured, and a 600-m chamber was lifted off its foundations. The reference also reviews the precautions that should be taken. They include. selecting a site where noise reduction is not required or can be achieved w ithout enclosure. If enclosure is essential, then a high ventilation rate is needed it is often designed to keep the turbine cool and is far too low to disperse gas leaks. Care must be taken to avoid stagnant pockets. 

A fire in a bulk storage facility at Coode Island, Melbourne, Australia, in August 1991 caused extensive damage and many complaints about the pollution caused by the smoke plume, but no injuries. The tank vents were connected together and piped to a carbon bed vapor recovery system. There were no flame arrestors in the pipework. Whatever the cause of the initial fire or explosion, the vent collection system provided a means of spreading the fire from one tank to another. 

Fires have often occurred when air is compressed. Above 140°C, lubricating oil oxidizes and forms a carbonaceous deposit on the walls of air compressor delivery lines. If the deposit is thin, it is kept cool by conduction through the pipework. But when deposits get too thick, they can catch fire. Sometimes the delivery pipe has gotten so hot that it has burst or the aftercooler has been damaged. In one case the fire vaporized some of the water in the aftercooler and set up a shock wave, which caused serious damage to the cooling-water lines. 

Water can be trapped behind heat exchanger baffles and then suddenly vaporized by circulation of hot oil. It can also be trapped in dead-ends and U-bends in pipework (see Section 9.1.1). Such U-bends can form when one end of a horizontal pipe is raised by thermal expansion. The trays in a distillation column were damaged during startup when hot gas met water, from previous steaming, dripping down the column [3J. Section 17.12 describes an incident somewhat similar to a foamover. 

Started. Since pump A and its associated pipework was off-line, the supervisor took the opportunity to carry out scheduled maintenance on the pressure relief valve (PRV) downstream of pump A. The valve had been malfunctioning, and although the work was not scheduled to be done for some weeks, the specialist contractor team who maintain the PRVs had a team available to carry out the work immediately. The supervisor therefore now had two teams working on the pump A systems the shift maintenance team working on the pump itself, and a two-man contractor team working on the PRV and its associated pipework. The PRV for pump A is not located immediately adjacent to the pump, and is above floor level, close to a number of other pipe runs. The following description represents a hypothetical sequence of events based on the inquiry findings, but embellished for the purposes of the case study. 

Automatic sprinkler systems have the great advantage that they are comparatively simple in concept and operate automatically, whether or not there are people present on the premises. Water is supplied from the public mains or tanks and pumps into a network of distribution pipes at ceiling level, which covers the whole premises. Water is discharged through nozzles or heads sited at regular intervals in the pipework, which are normally sealed with a he at-sensitive device. 

For pipework the purge volume may be taken as 1.5 times the pipework volume. For diaphragm meters the purge volume may be taken as 5 revolutions of the meter. For other meters the purge volume may be taken as 1.5 times the volume of a length of pipe equal to a flange-to-flange dimension of the meter. 

Gas pipework in a user s premises serves the function of transporting the gas from the meter to the point of use in a safe way and without incurring an avoidable pressure loss. For low-pressure installations, the permitted pressure loss is only 1 mbar from the meter to the plant manual isolating valve at maximum flow rate. The pipework must be sized adequately to allow for this. Boosters are sometimes used to overcome pressure losses, but the use of a booster should never be considered a satisfactory substitute for correct design of pipe sizes. Where gas is available at higher pressures it may be permissible to tolerate pressure losses of more than 1 mbar. 

Copper may be used above ground and for buried pipework at pressures up to 75 mbar and outside diameters of 67 mm. If utilized for buried pipework it must be factory sheathed and should not be attached to buried steel pipe and fittings. 

This may be used for buried pipework, in ducts and above ground at pressures up to 2 bar. Not to be used for plant pipework. Ductile iron pipe and fittings shall be to BS 4772, Specifications for ductile iron pipes and fittings. 

Where pipework is welded, the number of flanged joints should be kept to a minimum and such flanges shall be welded to the pipe. 

Buried pipework must be protected against accidental and physical damage from sharp material, etc. and chemical action from corrosive soils, etc. It must be protected against corrosion by means of wrapping, catholic protection, etc. for metal pipes. Above-ground pipework should be protected with suitable paint after preparation. 

Pipework should be easily identifiable in accordance with BS 1719. Where the normal pressure in the pipe exceeds 75mbar, consideration should be given to labeling the pipe with the normal operating pressure. In buildings in which there are no other piped flammable gas supplies it is sufficient to paint the pipe yellow ochre or to band it with appropriately colored adhesive tape. In large complex installations, it is desirable to identify pipe contents more precisely, and in those instances, the base color should be supplemented with a secondary code band of yellow and/or its name or chemical symbol. 

It is essential when designing the pipe layout for gas distribution that unavoidable pressure losses are not incurred. For low-pressure gas, the pressure available at the meter inlet will be only 21 mbar, and the allowable pressure loss to the point of use only 1 mbar, although higher pressures may be available in some circumstances. If such a low-pressure loss is not to be exceeded it is essential that the pipework be sized correctly. It is preferable to oversize pipework rather than undersize, particularly as this allows... 

Safety-valve vent pipework should be mn on the shortest possible route. Where bends or long mns occur, the pipe size may have to be increased to prevent back pressure on the safety valve during operation. 

Pipe diameter (mm) Steel pipework Copper pipework (m/s)... 

Bends and tee-pieces in pipework often create locally turbulent flow. This enhances the corrosivity of the process liquid. These effects should be minimized by the use of flow straighteners, swept tees and gentle bends. Flow-induced corrosion downstream of control valves, orifice plates, etc. is sometimes so serious that pipework requires lining with resistant material for some twelve pipe diameters beyond the valve. 

Much of the recent research on stress-corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steels has been stimulated by their use in nuclear reactor coolant circuits. The occurrence of stress-corrosion cracking in boiling water reactors (BWR) has been documented by Fox . A major cause for concern was the pipe cracking that occurred in the sensitised HAZ of the Type 304 pipework, which is reported to have been responsible for about 3% of all outages of more than 100 h from the period January 1971 to June 1977. 

To ensure that the water flows through the whole of the system as smoothly as possible and with the minimum of turbulence, it is vital that the layout of pipework should be planned before fabrication starts. It should not be the result of haphazard improvisation to avoid more and more obstacles as construction proceeds. Pipe runs should be minimised or run as directly as possible with every effort made to avoid features that might act as turbulence raisers. For this reason the number of flow controllers, process probes, bends, branches, valves, flanges, intrusive fittings, or mechanical deformation or damage to the pipework, should be kept to a minimum. 

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