BLOWDOWN Technology

in Aspen HYSYS
Getting Started Guide for Fire Case Depressurization Analysis
Anum Qassam, Senior Product Manager, Safety Analysis

Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................2
Audience ....................................................................................................................................2
Associated Files...........................................................................................................................2
Learning Objectives .....................................................................................................................2
Specifying Heat Transfer Model ...........................................................................................................3
API 521 Heat Flux Model .................................................................................................................3
Overview ....................................................................................................................................3
Data Requirements......................................................................................................................3
Constant Heat Flux Model ...............................................................................................................6
Overview ....................................................................................................................................6
Data Requirements......................................................................................................................6
Design Orifice for Fire Case .................................................................................................................9
Overview ....................................................................................................................................9
Procedure ...................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 16

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Introduction
A pool fire on a system often represents the scenario which results in the greatest peak mass flow rate
that the blowdown valve (BDV) must handle (since the liquid will likely vaporize over the course of the
fire, causing a rise in system pressure, which both introduces more possible vapor to the flare system
and establishes a greater driving force to the disposal system).
This tutorial will show you the key steps of setting up a design study for a BDV using BLOWDOWN
Technology in Aspen HYSYS.

Audience
This is an intermediate-level tutorial intended for process engineers who engage in the design or
revalidation of blowdown valves; this tutorial assumes that you have already reviewed the beginnerlevel Computer-Based Training available on the support website, and that you have familiarity with
simulating streams and unit operations in Aspen HYSYS.

Associated Files
Deployed with Aspen HYSYS is an example file that shows how to use the BLOWDOWN Analysis tool to
design an orifice for the fire emergency depressurization case.
To follow along with this tutorial, open up the associated file BLOWDOWN Fire Case
Depressurization.hsc.

Learning Objectives
This document will describe the following key steps in using the BLOWDOWN Analysis tool for designing
a blowdown valve for the fire case:

Specifying the Heat Transfer Model

Designing the BDV Orifice

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Specifying the Heat Transfer Model

The first and most important step is to identify (either using local regulatory guidelines, or internal
company guidelines) which heat flux model to use when simulating the fire. The BLOWDOWN Analysis
tool allows you two industry standard heat flux models: (1) API 521 Heat Flux Model outlined in Section
4.4.13.2.4.2 of API 521 (6e) and (2) a constant heat flux in accordance with global standards (e.g.,
NORSOK).
This section details the steps for specifying either heat flux model.
Note: This text, for brevity, will refer to the API 521 Heat Flux Model. To be exact, this is the
empirically-determined heat flux model outlined in Section 4.4.13.2.4.2 of API 521 6e. Note that
alternative fire modelling methods are outlined in other sections of API 521 6e, but this is n ot the
intended interpretation of the terminology API 521 Heat Flux Model.

API 521 Heat Flux Model

Overview
This section describes how to simulate a pool fire in BLOWDOWN in accordance with guidance
in the 6th edition of API 521. This section also provides some engineering guidance -- but always
confirm that your analysis is aligned with local regulatory and internal company guidelines.

Data Requirements
In order to analyze a system exposed to a pool fire in accordance with Section 4.4.13.2.4.2 in API
521 (6e), first select Apply to liquid as the Heat Flux Method on the Heat Transfer tab of the
unit operation exposed to the pool fire as shown in Figure 1. Some guidance for the data
requirements is provided below Figure 1 more details and descriptions are available in the F1
Help in Aspen HYSYS.

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Figure 1. Apply to liquid data requirements

Data

In Fire Zone?

Fire Heat Flux

Method

Fire Heat Flux

Adequate
Drainage &
Firefighting

Description
This check box must be selected in order to analyze depressurization for a
system under fire.
Apply to liquid is the appropriate selection to model fire in accordance with
API 521 6e Section 4.4.13.2.4.2.
The (calculated) constant heat flux that is applied to the liquid inventory at
each time step during the run.
This selection affects the C constant in the API heat flux model. The
determination of what is adequate drainage is up to the engineer, but in
general there should be drainage that carries hazardous liquids away from
the vessel and provides sufficient protection via a firewater system or
similar.

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Open Fire

Vapor Zone
Ambient Heat
Transfer

Environmental (F)
Factor

Include Insulation

Include Cladding

Per API 521 (6e), for an open fire, the wetted area should be raised to the
0.82 power. For a confined fire, re-radiation of the heat due to surrounding
walls or equipment may cause higher heat fluxes than an open fire.
Therefore, conservatively, when this check box is cleared, the wetted surface
area is raised to the 1.0 power (versus 0.82).
This selection allows you to model the heat transfer between the fluid in the
vapor phase and the environment. When using the API 521 heat flux model,
the recommendation is to select None, ignoring any heat transfer that may
occur between the vapor inventory and the environment. This is because the
API 521 heat flux model was empirically derived, whereas BLOWDOWNs
heat transfer model between the fluid and the environment is based on
fundamental heat transfer models. Combining the two different models may
result in unpredictable results results which may not accurately represent
reality.
The environmental factor is a number between 0 and 1 which effectively
reduces the fire heat flux to the liquid. When taking credit for insulation for
the API heat flux model, the recommendation is to estimate an F factor
when taking credit for insulation (versus specifying a layer of insulation or
cladding). If you need assistance in estimating this parameter, sections
4.4.13.2.7.2 through 4.4.13.2.7.4 of API 521 6e provide guidance.
When including insulation, BLOWDOWN will rigorously model heat transfer
between the fluid, any cladding, the wall, the insulation, and the
environment to more accurately predict wall temperatures using the
insulations conductivity, diffusivity, and thickness. For the fire case using the
API 521 heat flux model, it is not recommended to rigorously model the
insulation, as there is no guarantee that combining the API 521 empirical
model with fundamental heat transfer models will result in any realistic
temperature predictions of the insulation or wall.
When including cladding, BLOWDOWN will rigorously model heat transfer
between the fluid, the cladding, the wall, any insulation, and the
environment to more accurately predict wall temperatures using the
claddings conductivity, diffusivity, and thickness. For the fire case using the
API 521 heat flux model, it is not recommended to rigorously model the
cladding, as there is no guarantee that combining the API 521 empirical
model with fundamental heat transfer models will result in any realistic
temperature predictions of the cladding or wall.

After specifying the heat flux parameters, confirm that you have accurately captured the initial
volume holdup in the system on the Initial Condition tab, as shown in Figure 2. This effects the
wetted surface area calculation, which then impacts the calcul ated heat flux using the API 521 heat
flux model.
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Figure 2. Specify initial liquid holdup

Note: The discussion in this section was around vessels which contain a liquid holdup, since there
is explicit guidance for such systems in API 521 6e. Annex A of API 521 6e also indicates that the
API heat flux model can also be used to calculate the pressure profile for vessels, piping, and
other equipment exposed to fuel-controlled pool fire. In the BLOWDOWN Analysis tool, you may
specify the same heat transfer parameters for a pipe that you can for a vessel. It is up to each
engineer to determine whether the use of the API heat flux model for wetted piping is
appropriate.

Constant Heat Flux Model

Overview
This section describes how to simulate a pool fire in BLOWDOWN using a constant heat flux to
the outer layer of the vessel. This section also provides some engineering guidance -- but
always confirm that your analysis is aligned to your companys guidelines.

Data Requirements
The Apply to wetted wall and Apply to all wall options for the Heat Flux Method both allow
you to define a constant heat flux to the outer layer of the unit operation (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Constant Heat Flux Model Options

Data
Apply to
wetted wall

Description
This selection applies the constant heat flux only to the outside layer of the liquid
(or wetted) zone of the vessel. If the vessel becomes fully vapor-filled over the

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Apply to all
wall

course of the depressurization, then no heat will be applied to the system (see
Figure 4).
This selection applies the constant heat flux to the entire vessel outside layer. This
is the only heat flux method which is valid for simulating fire heat flux to a vaporfilled system.

The above Heat Flux Method selections differ with respect to the fluid zone to which the heat
flux is applied, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Heat Flux Method Zone Applicability

Some guidance for each of the data requirements is provided below Figure 5 more details and
descriptions are available in the F1 Help in Aspen HYSYS.

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Figure 5. Apply to all wall data requirements

Data

In Fire Zone?

Fire Heat Flux

Method

Fire Heat Flux

Vapor Zone
Ambient Heat
Transfer

Include Insulation

Description
This check box must be selected in order to analyze depressurization for a
system under fire.
Apply to all wall is the most common way to model fire heat flux to the
vessel wall surface.
The (specified) constant heat flux that is applied to the entire outer layer of
the vessel at each time step during the run.
This selection allows you to model the heat transfer between the fluid in the
vapor phase and the environment. This is rigorously calculated when Apply
to all wall is selected as the Heat Flux Method, but may be excluded if Apply
to wetted wall is selected.
When including insulation, BLOWDOWN will rigorously model heat transfer
between the fluid, any cladding, the wall, the insulation, and the
environment to more accurately predict wall temperatures using the
insulations conductivity, diffusivity, and thickness. When taking credit for
insulation, take care to ensure that the insulation is fireproof. Including the
effects of insulation is generally less conservative.

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Material

Thermal
Conductivity

Thermal
Diffusivity

Include Cladding

This selection allows you to model the insulation as Cellular Glass or to User
Define a custom material.
When User Defined is selected as the Material, you must provide the
thermal conductivity of the insulation. This parameter specifies the degree
to which the material conducts heat. Note that Table 6 in Section
4.4.13.2.7.3 of API 521 6e provides thermal conductivity values for typical
thermal insulations.
When User Defined is selected as the Material, you must provide the
thermal diffusivity of the insulation. This parameter measures the ability of a
material to conduct thermal energy relative to its ability to store thermal
energy. Several publications on heat transfer provide diffusivity values for a
variety of materials.
When including cladding, BLOWDOWN will rigorously model heat transfer
between the fluid, the cladding, the wall, any insulation, and the
environment to more accurately predict wall temperatures using the
claddings conductivity, diffusivity, and thickness.

Designing the Orifice for a Fire Case

Overview
When designing a blowdown valve, the objective is to identify the minimum required orifice size which
will satisfy the design criteria. The design criteria may be based on regulatory standards or a more
detailed stress rupture analysis. Generally speaking, the design depressurization rate is determined
based on the rate needed to ensure stress rupture is not an immediate concern during a pool fire
scenario, since the pool fire scenario generally results i n a higher depressurization rate than non-fire
situations.
This section will highlight, using an example, how to design an orifice for the fire case using BLOWDOWN
Technology in Aspen HYSYS. In this example, the API 521 design guidance is used, which recommends
that for carbon steel vessels of 1 or greater thickness, reducing the equipment pressure to 50% of the
design pressure within 15 minutes is appropriate.

Procedure
To design a BDV orifice, an iterative procedure is needed where the pressure at 15 minutes is tracked.
The orifice size is iteratively decreased or increased, and then the analysis re-run, in order to determine
the minimum orifice size.
The HYSYS Adjust block makes the iterative solving procedure for solving the minimum orifice diameter
much easier. This section will describe the procedure to use the BLOWDOWN Analysis tool with an
Adjust block in HYSYS to minimize the orifice size.
The steps of the procedure are listed below and described in detail in this section:
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Run the BLOWDOWN Analysis with an Initial Orifice Guess

Set up the Adjust Block
Select the Run BLOWDOWN on Input Change check box
Run the Adjust solver

Run the BLOWDOWN Analysis with an Initial Orifice Guess

This section details how to specify the orifice diameter and set up the Run Controls tab; this section
assumes that the fire heat flux to the vessel is modelled according to the API Heat Flux Model.
For this example, use an estimate of 1 diameter for the orifice as shown in Figure 6.
This is an initial guess. As a general rule, use an orifice diameter where the BDV is likely choked.
The diameter must be smaller than the inlet line to the orifice , as well as the outlet line from the
orifice.

Figure 6. Run BLOWDOWN with initial orifice diameter guess

On the Run Control tab, specify the halt condition time as 15 minutes (900 seconds) and
the halt pressure as atmospheric, as shown in Figure 7.
Do not use the halt pressure to represent the pressure design criteria (50% of the design
pressure). We will use the HYSYS Adjust block to meet this requirement.

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Figure 7. Halt Conditions Specification

Run the analysis.

Run the analysis one time through to ensure that there are no errors with the run.

Set Up the HYSYS Adjust Block

This section will illustrate how to set up the HYSYS Adjust block. The Adjust block will be used to
iteratively change the orifice diameter used in the BLOWDOWN Analysis tool. It will monitor the final
BLOWDOWN pressure at the end of 15 minutes and adjust the diameter appropriately to try to meet the
pressure design criteria (50% of the system design pressure, in this case).
From the Model Palette (shortcut key is F4), add the Adjust block to the HYSYS main
flowsheet, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Add HYSYS Adjust Block

Double-click the ADJ-1 icon to open the Adjust block.

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 Select the BLOWDOWN Orifice Diameter as the Adjusted Variable, as shown in Figure 9.
The HYSYS Adjust block functions much like Goal Seek in Excel. The objective is to iterate on
the orifice diameter, until the final pressure at 15 minutes is 50% of the design pressure.

Figure 9. Specify Adjusted Variable

Select the BLOWDOWN Final Pressure as the Target Variable, as shown in Figure 10.
The Final Pressure is the pressure calculated by BLOWDOWN at the Halt Time specified on
the Run Controls tab.

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Figure 10. Specify Target Variable

Specify the pressure design criteria as the Specified Target Value, as shown in Figure 11.
In this example, a target pressure value of 375 psia will be used. This pressure should
represent the design pressure criteria for the system, which in this example is 50% of the
system design pressure.

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Figure 11. Specify Target Value as Pressure Design Criteria

On the Parameter tab, change the Tolerance, Step Size, and Iterations, as shown in Figure
12.
Suggested values for a reasonable initial tolerance and step size are shown in Figure 12
below. The step size should be smaller than the initial orifice guess, and the pressure
tolerance should be generous in the first pass.

Figure 12. HYSYS Adjust Block Recommended Parameters

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Select the Run BLOWDOWN on Input Change check box

Double-click on the BLOWDOWN icon, and check the box Run BLOWDOWN on Input Change
This selection allows the HYSYS Adjust block to control the BLOWDOWN Analysis tool. If this
check box is cleared, the HYSYS Adjust block will not work properly with the BLOWDOWN tool.

Figure 13. Allow Adjust Block to control BLOWDOWN block

Run the HYSYS Adjust Block

Click the Start button on the HYSYS Adjust block.
This step can take some time. You should monitor the convergence on the Monitor tab. I
recommend keeping the Adjust block number of iterations small (5), so that you can monitor if
the system is converging, and make corrective actions as needed.
In this example, as shown in Figure14, the system ran for 11 iterations until adequate
convergence was reached.

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Figure 14. Final Orifice Size Result

The optimal size for the orifice is 1.536 inches, which is when the final pressure at 15 minutes is
374.644 psia.
The BDV vendor can select the next standard orifice size up from this in order to ensure that the
system is adequately sized for the fire scenario.

Conclusion
The BLOWDOWN Analysis tool is the industry-validated technology to assess cold-temperatures in
equipment & process piping. It has also been used in industry to design blowdown valves for the fire
case scenario.
The objective of this intermediate-level tutorial was to demonstrate how to use the HYSYS Adjust block
with the BLOWDOWN Analysis tool in order to design the BDV for the fire case scenario.
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Figure 15. Provide feedback on Support Website

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Figure 16. In-Product Request for New Content

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