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How to Design Thin-Walled Vessel under Internal Pressure

In this post, I want to share how to design thin-walled vessel under internal pressure. I will also share a simple example about the application in the next post.

For information, I do not have any experience of the calculation in my whole career until posted this post. The design of thin-walled vessel under internal pressure is usually job of mechanical engineer. But it is good for process engineers to understand it in general.

The design of thin-walled vessel under internal pressure, in general, will be divided into two parts: design of cylinder and spherical shells and design of heads and closures. Read More

How To Calculate Required Wall Thickness and Schedule of Pipe

In this post I want to share how to calculate minimum required wall thickness and schedule of pipe. Before we jump into calculation steps, let’s review what pipe schedule is.

Pipe schedule expresses thickness of pipe. It is not actual measurement, but as a guide based on wall thickness formula.

Two pipes with the same diameter may have different schedules, which means they have a different wall thickness. So, somebody specifying a pipe for a high-pressure application will select a bigger number which represents a bigger schedule or thicker wall.

I made a simple spreadsheet on how to calculate required wall thickness and schedule of pipe. I found that the calculation is quite mechanical. Maybe some process engineers, even me, do not really used to this calculation. The calculation involves allowable stress, weld quality factor, etc. I do not think all process engineers should understand about how to calculate pipe wall thickness. But it would be better if we do.

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