Module 3 Process Piping Hydraulics Sizing And Pressure Rating Pdf

[Mariela Laflam]

Alarge portion of the total cost of a typical oil & gas or chemical process plant is in the piping systems. A significant amount of operating cost (energy) and maintenance cost is also associated with the flow of fluids through the piping and its components. Understanding how fluid flows from one point to another is the foundation of process design and piping layout. The principles are not complex, but neither are they simple due to the interdependence of velocity, pipe diameter, length, fluid characteristics, pressure drop and friction.

This 4-hour course provides an overview of piping pressure drop calculation procedures and line sizing in a simplified manner. The course also provides an introduction to pipe wall thickness calculations for internal pressure.

This course is Part 3 of a 9-part series that covers the entire gamut of piping engineering in an easy-to-learn format. Each course in the series is stand-alone. Feel free to jump back and forth through the courses depending on your own knowledge and experience and your current needs. However, it is suggested that you complete the series in sequential order if you have limited knowledge of piping systems.

This course is intended for mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, piping engineers, control systems engineers, as well as civil, structural and electrical engineers who have a need or a desire to know more about piping components and systems. No prerequisite knowledge of the subject is required.

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 20 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.

This document provides an overview of process piping fundamentals, codes, and standards. It covers topics such as pipe sizes, schedules, dimensions, materials, pressure ratings, and applicable design codes. The document is the first module in a nine-part course that introduces piping engineering concepts. It is divided into three chapters that cover piping systems basics, definitions and terminology, and relevant codes and standards like ASME B31.Read less

As nuclear power generation has become established since the 1950s, the size of reactor units has grown from 60 MWe to more than 1600 MWe, with corresponding economies of scale in operation. At the same time there have been many hundreds of smaller power reactors built for naval use (up to 190 MW thermal) and as neutron sourcesa, yielding enormous expertise in the engineering of small power units and accumulating over 12,000 reactor years of experience.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are defined as nuclear reactors generally 300 MWe equivalent or less, designed with modular technology using module factory fabrication, pursuing economies of series production and short construction times. This definition, from the World Nuclear Association, is closely based on those from the IAEA and the US Nuclear Energy Institute. Some of the already-operating small reactors mentioned or tabulated below do not fit this definition, but most of those described do fit it. PWR types may have integral steam generators, in which case the reactor pressure vessel needs to be larger, limiting portability from factory to site. Hence many larger PWRs such as the Rolls-Royce UK SMR have external steam generators.

This information page focuses on advanced designs in the small category, i.e. those now being built for the first time or still on the drawing board, and some larger ones which are outside the mainstream categories dealt with in the Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors page. Some of the designs described here are not yet actually taking shape, others are operating or under construction. Four main options are being pursued: light water reactors, fast neutron reactors, graphite-moderated high temperature reactors and various kinds of molten salt reactors (MSRs). The first has the lowest technological risk, but the second (FNR) can be smaller, simpler and with longer operation before refuelling. Some MSRs are fast-spectrum.

Today, due partly to the high capital cost of large power reactors generating electricity via the steam cycle and partly to the need to service small electricity grids under about 4 GWe,b there is a move to develop smaller units. These may be built independently or as modules in a larger complex, with capacity added incrementally as required (see section below on Modular construction using small reactor units). Economies of scale are envisaged due to the numbers produced. There are also moves to develop independent small units for remote sites. Small units are seen as a much more manageable investment than big ones whose cost often rivals the capitalization of the utilities concerned.

SMR development is proceeding in Western countries with a lot of private investment, including small companies. The involvement of these new investors indicates a profound shift taking place from government-led and -funded nuclear R&D to that led by the private sector and people with strong entrepreneurial goals, often linked to a social purpose. That purpose is often deployment of affordable clean energy, without carbon dioxide emissions.

Generally, modern small reactors for power generation, and especially SMRs, are expected to have greater simplicity of design, economy of series production largely in factories, short construction times, and reduced siting costs. Most are also designed for a high level of passive or inherent safety in the event of malfunctionc. Also many are designed to be emplaced below ground level, giving a high resistance to terrorist threats. A 2010 report by a special committee convened by the American Nuclear Society showed that many safety provisions necessary, or at least prudent, in large reactors are not necessary in the small designs forthcoming. This is largely due to their higher surface area to volume (and core heat) ratio compared with large units. It means that a lot of the engineering for safety including heat removal in large reactors is not needed in the small reactorsd. Since small reactors are envisaged as replacing fossil fuel plants in many situations, the emergency planning zone required is designed to be no more than about 300 m radius. The combined tables from this report are appended, along with notes of some early small water-, gas-, and liquid metal-cooled reactors.

Licensing is potentially a challenge for SMRs, as design certification, construction and operation licence costs are not necessarily less than for large reactors. Several developers have engaged with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC's) pre-licensing vendor design review process, which identifies fundamental barriers to licensing a new design in Canada and assures that a resolution path exists. The pre-licensing review is essentially a technical discussion, phase 1 of which involves about 5000 hours of staff time, considering the conceptual design and charged to the developer. Phase 2 is twice that, addressing system-level design.

The IAEA has a programme assessing a conceptual multi-application small light water reactor (MASLWR) design with integral steam generators, focused on natural circulation of coolant, and in 2003 the US DOE published a report on this MASLWR conceptual design. Several of the integral PWR designs below have some similarities.

In January 2012 the DOE called for applications from industry to support the development of one or two US light-water reactor designs, allocating $452 million over five years through the SMR Licensing Technical Support (LTS) programme. Four applications were made, from Westinghouse, Babcock & Wilcox, Holtec, and NuScale Power, the units ranging from 225 down to 45 MWe. The DOE announced its decision in November 2012 to support the B&W 180 MWe mPower design, to be developed with Bechtel and TVA. Through the five-year cost-share agreement, the DOE would invest up to half of the total project cost, with the project's industry partners at least matching this. The total would be negotiated between the DOE and B&W, and the DOE had paid $111 million by the end of 2014 before announcing that funds were cut off due to B&W shelving the project. However B&W is not required to repay any of the DOE money, and the project, capped at $15 million per year, is now under BWX Technologies. The company had spent more than $375 million on the mPower programme to February 2016.

In January 2014 Westinghouse announced that was suspending work on its small modular reactors in the light of inadequate prospects for multiple deployment. The company said that it could not justify the economics of its SMR without government subsidies, unless it could supply 30 to 50 of them. It was therefore delaying its plans, though small reactors remain on its agenda. In 2016 however, the company was much more positive about SMRs. See also UK Support subsection below. However, in March 2017 BWXT suspended work on the mPower design, after Bechtel withdrew from the project.

The Small Modular Reactor Research and Education Consortium (SmrREC) has been set up by Missouri University of Science and Technology to investigate the economics of deploying multiple SMRs in the country. SmrREC has constructed a comprehensive model of the business, manufacturing and supply chain needs for a new SMR-centric nuclear industry.

Early in 2016 developers and potential customers for SMRs set up the SMR Start consortium to advance the commercialization of SMR reactor designs. Members of the consortium include Bechtel, BWX Technologies, Dominion, Duke Energy, Energy Northwest, Fluor, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Holtec, NuScale, Ontario Power, PSEG Nuclear, Southern Nuclear, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and UAMPS. The organization will represent the companies in interactions with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Congress and the executive branch on small reactor issues. US industry body the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is assisting in the formation of the consortium, and is to work closely with the organization on policies and priorities relating to small reactor technology.

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