General design considerations pressure vessels

General Considerations Most pressure vessels for the chemical-process industry will continue to be designed and built to the rules of Sec. T11, Division 1. While the rules of Sec. T11, Division 2, will frequently provide thinner elements, the cost of the engineering analysis, stress analysis and higher-quality construction, material control, and inspection required by these rules frequently exceeds the savings from the use of thinner walls. 

GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS PRESSURE VESSELS 13.4.1. Design Pressure... 

Sometimes the design is governed by considerations that have little to do with heat transfer, such as the space available for the equipment or the pressure drop that can be tolerated in the fluid streams. Tubular exchangers are, in general, designed in accordance with various standards and codes, such as the Standards of the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA) and the ASME-API Unfired Pressure Vessel Code. ... 

In the design of pressure vessels safety is the primary consideration, especially for nuclear reactor pressure vessels, due the potential impact of a possible severe accident. In general however, the design is a compromise between consideration of economics and safety. The possible risks of a given mode of failure and its consequences are balanced against the effort required for its prevention the resulting design should achieve an adequate standard of safety at minimum cost. 

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