Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

  • Congratulations cowski on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Recent content by colemanstoops

  1. colemanstoops

    Source for volume-explicit form of cubic equation of state?

    I knew I'd seen it some place familiar! Thanks very much. (By the way, not knowing how soon someone might have the answer, I continued to do some looking elsewhere and found a copy of a thesis on line that presents both the Redlich-Kwong and van der Waals EoS in volume-explicit form.) The key...
  2. colemanstoops

    Source for volume-explicit form of cubic equation of state?

    Surely someone out there has gone through the algebra required to yield a volume-explicit form of a cubic equation of state. That is, I'm looking for a form using T and P as independent variables as an alternative to the commonly-seen pressure-explicit form that uses T and V as independent...
  3. colemanstoops

    single tube manometer-related question(s)

    This is probably so basic it's embarrassing but I'm missing something somewhere along the line. Say you have a large reservoir (like a railroad tank car) hooked up ultimately to a vertical pipe, the upper end of which is open to the atmosphere. Conceptually the system is described by a single...
  4. colemanstoops

    Correlation for residual viscous fluid film?

    What I'm looking for is a literature correlation that estimates the quantity of a residual amount of viscous fluid in a horizontal pipe after flow ceases and the line is allowed to drain at least superficially. Say, for example, we have a 560 SSU oil pumped in a horizontal 3" line; the pump is...
  5. colemanstoops

    removal of hydrogen from an organic vapor stream?

    This may be somewhat unusual: what technology/technologies would you suggest as a starting point for removal of hydrogen as a potentially valuable byproduct from an organic vapor stream at about 25 psig and 400°F? The organics present are all C2 oxygen-containing species; the process is a...
  6. colemanstoops

    Looking for an article on utility tank sizing for batch processes

    Some time in the mid-1990s (I recall), an article was published that demonstrated a histogram-based method for sizing storage / surge tanks for utilities (e.g., demineralized water) for batch processes. This method took into account the fluctuating rate of withdrawal of the utility and the...
  7. colemanstoops

    Relief valve after a regulator: mandatory?

    Here's the situation: a new regulator is to be installed on a nitrogen line that feeds several vessels (and no other users!) for pressure transfer and line purging. EACH ONE of the vessels thus fed has a dedicated relief device that is appropriate for the vessel in question. Thus: I don't...
  8. colemanstoops

    Relating temperature history to susceptibility to thermal shock

    Here's the situation: there is a stainless steel vessel outfitted with half pipe jackets that ordinarily use 150 psig saturated steam to heat the vessel contents. On occasions, the batch recipe calls for a cooling step (using cooling water, which yields heat to the atmosphere by way of a...
  9. colemanstoops

    Steam - fire case allowable overpressure

    I'll associate myself with Petroprocess' comments: that 21% overpressure is the rule for the fire case, the fluid notwithstanding.
  10. colemanstoops

    External fire on equipment: standard practice re: associated pipe

    I can rationalize including reboiler piping on a distillation unit: seems to me the thinking is that a pool fire would necessarily involve both the column and reboiler, and that such piping would be entirely within the "equipment" envelope. That said, it also seems to me that it's reasonable to...
  11. colemanstoops

    External fire on equipment: standard practice re: associated pipe

    API 521, §5.15.1.1 is not definitive as to whether or not associated piping is included in the calculation of the area for impingement of a pool fire. In fact, it essentially says that it's at the discretion of the user. I'm trying to find out what standard / common practice is; that is, does...
  12. colemanstoops

    Purchase/installation cost of cellular glass insulation

    I'm looking for a rule of thumb/set of such rules covering the purchase price and installation costs for cellular glass insulation on a process vessel (the vessel dimensions are already well established), including sheathing (in this case, stainless steel). Peters & Timmerhaus give graphs...
  13. colemanstoops

    Wetted surface of partially filled F-D heads on horizontal vessels

    I've tried several searches to find either an analytical or empirical method to derive the wetted surfaces of torispherical heads on a partially filled horizontal vessel, with no luck so far. It's safe to presume that the key vessel dimensions (inside diameter; crown radius; knuckle radius...
  14. colemanstoops

    Highly viscous fluid

    You're pretty much on target in considering API 520. If you look at §5.8.1.4 and 5.8.1.5 of API 520 (8th edition from December 2008), you'll find a fairly explicit method for sizing relief valves for viscous liquids. A worked example problem follows immediately. That ought to step you through...
  15. colemanstoops

    PSV sizing for different case

    Could you be a bit more specific, please, as to what you want help with? If, perhaps, you're looking for general guidelines / rules / sizing equations, I'd suggest consulting API RP 520 (part 1) and 521. Those documents provide plenty of details in concise language. If, after that, you have...

Part and Inventory Search