Industrial High Pressure Applications

Processes, Equipment, and Safety

Rudolf Eggers

• Publisher: Wiley-VCH
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9783527325863
• eBook ISBN: 9783527652679
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Chemical & Biochemical Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Industrial high pressure processes open the door to many reactions that are not possible under 'normal' conditions. These are to be found
in such different areas as polymerization, catalytic reactions, separations, oil and gas recovery, food processing, biocatalysis and more.
The most famous high pressure process is the so-called Haber-Bosch process used for fertilizers and which was awarded a Nobel prize.

Following an introduction on historical development, the current state, and future trends, this timely and comprehensive publication goes on to describe different industrial processes, including methanol and other catalytic syntheses, polymerization and renewable energy processes, before covering safety and equipment issues.

With its excellent choice of industrial contributions, this handbook offers high quality information not found elsewhere, making it invaluable
reading for a broad and interdisciplinary audience.

Part I

Introduction

Chapter 1

Historical Retrospect on High-Pressure Processes

Rudolf Eggers

The historical development of high-pressure processes since the beginning of the industrial period is based on two concepts: first, the transfer of the inner energy of water vapor at elevated pressures into kinetic energy by the invention of the steam engine; second, the movement of gas-phase reaction equilibrium at high pressures enabling the production of synthetic products like ammonia. Thus, the industrial use of high-pressure processes goes back to both mechanical and chemical engineering. Beginning in the second half of the eighteenth century, the need of safe and gas-tight steam vessels up to few megapascals became essential because that time many accidents happened by bursting of pressure vessels. Chemical industry started high-pressure synthesis processes in the early twentieth century. Compared to moderate working pressures of steam engines, the pressure range now was extremely high between 10 and 70 MPa. As a consequence, a fast growing requirement for high-pressure components like high-pressure pumps, compressors, heat transfer devices, tubes and fittings, reliable sealing systems, and in particular new pressure vessel constructions developed.

Besides, mechanical and chemical engineering material science has promoted the development of new high-pressure processes by creating high ductile steels with suitable strength parameter.

Finally, the safety of high-pressure plants is of outstanding importance. Thus, in the course of development, national safety rules for vessels, pipes, and valves have been introduced by special organizations. For example, in 1884, the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) launched its first standard for the uniformity of testing methods of boilers. The German society TÜV was founded in 1869 in order to avoid the devastating explosions of steam vessels.

The following list of year dates shows essential milestones of high-pressure processes concerning their development and technical design:

1680: Papins construction of the first autoclave for evaporating water. The design shows the idea of an early safety valve working on an adjustable counterbalance.

1769: James Watt introduced the steam engine transferring thermal energy in motive power.

1826: Jacob Perkins demonstrated the compressibility of water by experiments above 10 Mpa. Caused by the increasing application of steam engines, the boiling curve of different media became of interest. It was observed that boiling temperatures increase with rising pressure. That time one assumes a remaining coexistence of liquid and gas phase up to any high pressure. It was the Irish physicist and chemist Thomas Andrews who in 1860 disproved this assumption. On the basis of experiments with carbon dioxide, he was able to demonstrate a thermodynamic state with no difference between liquid and gas phase characterized by a distinct value of temperature, pressure, and density. This point has been called the “critical point.”

1852: J.P. Joule and W. Thompson discovered the cooling effect caused by the expansion of gases during pressure release.

1873: J.D. van der Waals gives a plausible explanation for the behavior of fluids at supercritical condition.

1900: W. Ostwald claimed a patent on the generation of ammonia by the combination of free nitrogen and hydrogen in the presence of contacting substances.

1913: F. Haber and C. Bosch: First commercial plant synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen at 20 Mpa and 550 °C. The reactors were sized at an inner diameter of 300 mm and a length of 8 m. The productivity of one reactor was 5 ton/day [1]. The pressure vessel was equipped with an in-line tube made from soft iron and degassing holes in order to protect the pressure-resistant walls against hydrogen embrittlement. This process was the forerunner of many others that have been developed into commercial processes [2].

1920: First application of methanol synthesis as a conversion of carbon monoxide and hydrogen at a pressure of 31 MPa and temperatures between 300 and 340 °C.

1924: First industrial plant for direct hydrolysis of fuel from coal at 70 MPa based on the Bergius process, which was claimed at 1913.

1953: Initiation of a polyethylene production at about 250 MPa.

1978: First commercial decaffeination plant using supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent.

The development of high-pressure vessel design is characterized by the initiation of seamless and forged cylindrical components. The two versions are the forged solid wall construction and a group of different layered wall constructions. Among these, the BASF Schierenbeck vessel plays an important role, because these vessels are manufactured without welding joints. Figure 1.1 presents an overview.

Figure 1.1 Survey on high-pressure vessel design [3]....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Related Titles
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Preface
• List of Contributors
• Part I: Introduction
• Part II: Processes
• Part III: Process Equipment and Safety
• Appendix: International Codes and Standards for High-Pressure Vessels
• Index