1 reply to this topic

[prasad54]

Hello all,

I am having a heat exchager with fluid on tube side at lower pressure than the fluid on shell side.

The fuild on the shell side is at 22 barg and tube is 9 barg.

For tube ruture scenario, I would like to have a ruture disk on tube side fluid outlet.

Is there any thumb rule by which we can decide to have a rupure disk for tube rupture in a heat exchanger.

Thanks in advance.

[djack77494]

Is there any thumb rule by which we can decide to have a rupure disk for tube rupture in a heat exchanger.

prasad,
I'm not sure precisely what you are asking. If you are meaning, "Would a rupture disk be an effective pressure relieving device (i.e. compared to a PSV)?", then I would say the answer is "yes". In fact, I think RD's are even more effective than PSV's because they are quicker acting - important in cases such as tube ruptures.

The situation you envision does present a problem, however. If we imagine a full single tube rupture occuring near the tube fluid inlet, then I can imagine that the inlet side of the channel would develop excessive pressure. It would be isolated from the RD or PSV by a reservoir of 22 barg fluid, so there could be a problem that the RD or PSV would not fully address. Perhaps other forum members more familiar with this scenario could offer additional assistance, since I don't really know how to address this issue.

Good luck,
Doug