‘THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS ‘ASE. 47 SL, New York, NY. 10017 pubtcatons Sleusalon te pred nly te paper is pubianne may MME Sour seea or tra micefonueon teratoma Cea haus be gen 6 SME Saeco we nr Pow sts rn ae rns Srmuainosk y a ACOUSTICALLY INDUCED PIPING VIBRATION 18 HIGH CAPACITY PRESSURE REDUCING SYSTEMS bby Ve Ae Carvees and Re Ts Moeller Teron Research & Engineering Cor Plorhem Park, Rel 07932 82-WA/PVP-8 ie ansTmact Experience in the gas production, petro- chenical and other industries has demonstrated ehat fcoustic energy in high capecity, gas pressure re ducing ayrtenr can cause severe piping vibration land in extreme casea have Led €0. piping fatigue Failures after a few houre of operation. Typical systeur where such problens may occur include large Compressor recycle systens, steam desuperheater Systene, and high capacity safety valve, pressure Iiedown systems. The tread tn tecent years tovards higher capacity eystens has tacreaced the Likeli~ hood of experiencing ouch fallures. Tate paper deacribes the causes of Mah acoustic energy, how {€ can excite resosant piping Vibration end ultimately reolt in fatigue fatlures, od provides highlights of failure experience. Cor~ Felations are presented based on sound power level, Line size and operating experience which may be lused fo evaluate syatens for potential problems. For potentially troublesone systens, several ap- proaches to avotding the problem are briefly de— Seribed. Guidelines are thus presented to form a “state of the art” baaie for an engineering judg ‘ent on the surceptability of a given presture let~ own piping systen to fatigue damage. NATURE OF AcOUSTICALLY TAOUCED VIBRATIONS effects can be separated into three sapects and re ated staply to nechantcal vibration problem: fn the high acoustic turbulence generated {2 the pressure letdown ayaten, murt be understood. Next, he dynamite reaponee of the piping 0 the exctta~ ton forces aust be determined. Finally, the coo~ sequence of this response must be investigated. A complete, quantitative, treataent of this. pro is well beyood the scope of this paper. Such # die~ cession would involve the random gotion of a turbue ont fluld f1eld, the effietency of converting fluid-flow energy into sound via turbulent. floctua tions, dysante tesponse characteristics of complex piping systems which would be noo-linesr, the sa fare of fatigue doe to rendoa vibration, ‘material characteristice and stress magnitude. dence the ob- Jective here is to provide he user with a brief Atscunsion of the acoustically induced vibration failure phenomenon an it relates. to hgh preseure letdown stations in gas service piping systens.(1] Pressure reductog ayateas are subject to rapidly fluctueting pressure forces (acoustic en~ rey) generated by the fluid turbulence promoted by How restriction devices withia the systems In the ‘case of both control valves and restriction ori— fleas, thie energy Ls created by high velocity fluid Inpingenent on solid surfaces, turbulent mizing and, for choked flow, shock waves downstream of the flow restriction, Choked flow occurs when the upatreas, to dowetrean pressure ratio around the restriction teaches ite critical value; that 1a, vhen their ratio fe large enough to produce sonte Flow at the restrie~ Hloas[2] “(This would occur at a pressure rato of 41.89" for on ideal gas.) An Sacresse above the cri- teal pressure ratio does not further increase the Guld velocity for « pereienlar flow restriction ‘The level of acoustic energy (or aerodynan~ cally generated notse) ts a result of the ahear for~ ces and feynolés stressen found withia any turbulent How. The magnitude of the eurbolence and the inter fal Zorces/etteeses te a function of the flowing Flutd’ and ite velocity.(3] In a coatrol valve ori~ fice, compressible fluids can reach high Telattve orifice, the Curbulent forces/atresees vill become so large that Intense nofee due to large pressure {luctu~ ations will be generated. The generated noise 12 000 Perlodie due to'the randoaness of the turbulent forces Involved tn ite foraation. The randomess causes the acoustie spectrun of a control valve to have a brosd ‘Trequeney range vith a peak normally occurring tn ex core of 1000 Herts.Barly investigations of free-Jet noise established a relationship between the aechanieal Stream power and the generated accustic power, the basis being thet the turbulent forces/atresses are a Statietical property of the pover resulting from the Hlowing gas.” The relattonahip shoved that the scous~ Ue power equale the gechaateal stream power (a fane~ Hon of the nostle gee velocity and mses flow rate, Lier, 1/20 ¥2) multiplied by an efftetency fac~ tor.[4] This efficlency factor was emplrically Found to be io the range of 10~4 to 10° when the pressure ratio reached choked conditions across the horsle, Unfortunately, the efficiency factor bas Dever been established or verified for an enclosed Jer or orifice, and, to date, all valve nolse pre~ ‘Aiction techniques are of an enpirical oF seat feapirical nature. Since the notse Je generated dovnstrean of the flow restriction, most of the acoustic energy 15, Fadiated into the dovnatream piping, which becomes the tranaeiteing medium. The noise travels along the inside of the pipe in the gas, losing Litele ‘snergy and radiating through the pipe vall along fea encire Length. [5] DYRMIIC RESPONSE OF PIPING COMPONENTS ‘AD RESULTANT FATIGUE FAILURES ‘wo eypes of piping vibrations are of coo~ cern downstream of presbure reducers: vibrations Geooclated with small fittinge Like drain valver oF Ripples and pipe wall flexural vibrations. —Saall fAttings introduce discontinuities vith stress con centrations and fatigue failures are caused by high clic stresses at these discontinulties. Pipe vall Flewural vibrattone occur in two baste modes: cunferential and axial, at show by « few of the ower frequency nodal patterns in Pigure 1. Each ‘bration node Sn afnuseldal, the frst around the pipe clreunference and the accond along its axte.(6] ches are pipe dlaneter, wall thickness, pipe mater Jal, segment configuration (Le., elbow, straight, support fixdty, ete~), end leagih. Pipe flexural ‘lbration usually occurs as a conbioation of the stove types; therefore, there are many node shapes Sind cortesponding natural frequencies, Because of the multitude of modes in the excitation Tange, there fa alvaye a high probability for exciting one or nore natural frequencies of « piping eysteas (7) Vibrations in thenselves do not neces sartly cause fatlure. Hovever, when the energy of the foreing function is sufficient to cause Large resonant response, the endurance Lait of the piping ‘any be excecded and eventually fatigue fatlures can be expected. For reronance, when the acoustic {re~ Vibration anpiitudes and resulting stress levels are huagnified over that. produced by « statically applied force. Typical values for thio magnification Factor fare in the range of 15 £0.50 for velded steel con factore associated with structural discone inulties ich a5 tees and welded on pipe supports furcher in- Aclacing facigue fatleres-[3) Circumferential Nodal Patterns m3 Nodal Areangement Fore= 3 m= 4 Circumterntit Node Fig, 1, NODAL PATTERNS OF THIN.WALLED CYLINDERS PAILIRE EXPERIENCE 15 Literature surveys and discussions with to- ‘dustry contacts have shown thet the power generation, owpace and petrochenical industries have. experi fenced fatigue failures in pressure letdown systens. 9] However, the primary cause of such fetlures, acoustic energy, often has not been appreciated fully and de~ sige criteria have not been developed. A typical. Solution was to stiffen the structure to withacand the vibrations without ‘dentifying of curing the cause of the problen or establishing criteria to pinpotat potential problem are ‘the “Design Linit” presented later tn this paper 4s the reruit of an eapirical correlation of setuat operating experiences with pressure Letdown Systems, both good and bad. Table 1 Lists the ser ‘ice, pertinent paraneters, and calculates sound power levels for the pressure reducing systens used fn ehte study which have experienced either eevere Vibration or actual fatigue fallures. Table 2 pro ‘ides this sane data for systens which have aot’ had abooreal experience.Out of a total of 36 cases, five represent fatigue failures, teo represent severe vibration, fone Fepresente s\failve doe to weld wnderevtting at ‘enall connection, and the renainder are good exper ence. Sound Power Levels (P¥L) are calculated weing procedures specifically developed within Txxon Research and’ Engineering Go, but ate rolatively fconsietent with control valve noise pradietion tech laique readily available in the 2iterature. [10,11] ‘The background for the five fatigue fall- eres, ali occurring in carbon steel pipe, 12 2 marized below: © Propylene Refrigeration Conprestor Recycle Systen (Table Ty Point "A") The teat fatlure war a crack at 2 150 m= (C4n.) beanch conection to 2 600 m (26 tn.) header dovnstrean of the recycle valve and cccurred during startup. Acoustic cnersy was generated by the upstrean control valve {nthe To mn branch and siso by the sonic flow at ‘the branch connections ‘© We Treat Gas Safety Letdown System (Table 1, Pointe "BL and “82") This eysten consists of a control valve Iet~ ting down pressure to a safety valve flare hoader system, The failure occurred sfter 5 £0 10 hours of operation ac a crack at a 250 an (10 in.) branch connection to a 700 1m (28 in.) header. As shown by Pigure.? che 250 1m Tine completely broke avay frou the 700 a header ‘Again, the acoustic energy was generated by an wetrean control valve and soate flow at the Branch connection. © Multi-Component Refrigerant Compre Systen (Table 1, Point "D") F Recycle Cracks vere observed in 2 600 mm (24 12.) Line domatreas of the compressor recycle valve after 12 hours of operation. The cracks in the 600 mm Line were near the branch connections of 2130 am (6 in.) Line and 19 am (3/4 4a.) drain Valve, aad at an I-beam support welded o the Pipe at the elbow imedistely dowaerenm of the control valve. © Pover Plant Desuperheater System (Table 1, Point "e") mate system consiated of six, parallel, hgh pressure steam letéow valves, each wich a Gmstrean, three pess coutra-flow attenporator nd am invitne silencer, initial signe of an Scoustically induced vibration problea became apparent when the interasia of all six atten porators and several of the In-line silencers Suffered fatigue danage. Becauce of this dan~ ‘age, the attenporator internals were renoved. Fatlure of the 450 am (18 én.) dlancter atten porator shells occurred after 400 houre of oper ion. '* Process Plant Steam Desuperhester System (Tab 1, Poise") ‘mais syste included four parallel desuper~ heaters: located downstream of control valves. Several cracks developed in thie system after two to three months of operation. Ivo to three Of the four letdown valves in thc aysten were # Charging steam theough desuperhesters ond 250 am (0'fn.) branch Lines nto «500 un (20 4a.) Tender later evaged up to a 730 m2 (30 48.) Tine. Longitudinal cracking occurred on the bottom of the 300 m= header ata tranaveree guide located 0.5 w downateean of the fourth 250m branch ‘esanections In addition, 325 mm (Iin) bypass line for a block valve dovnstrean of the third letdown valve cracked and the 300 me header cracked around a pressure tap downstream of the Eeaneverse guide. omplete operating data for the above fatl~ ture experience afe show in Table 1, and sinilar data for other locations having good operating experience fare shown in Table 2, rom thie information, AVL's may be calculated and used to correlate the experience. Fig, 2. FAILURE IN LNG TREAT GAS LETDOWN SYSTEM RECOMMENDED DESION LINE DERIVED [FROX OPEEATING EXPERIENCE Both Tables I snd 2 provide operating data for the pressure reducing syeteas used in the study, the caleulated PVL's and che domstrean pipe sizes Based on che results of field tests, PML and pipe Ataneter vere found to. be the key parameters in prob ‘lene concerning scovstiesily snduced vibratione- The ‘calculated PVL for each lettered polnt in Table 1 and numbered point in Table 2 are plotted on Figure 3 ae iB function of domatrean pipe diameter. Potnce rep= Terenting failures of savers vibrations are distin~ ‘a guished from points representiag good operating exper ‘Te “Deskgn Linte” curve has been posstioned to reflect the best f1t to polate of good experience. ALL of the good experience polate with wall thick hegses of 8,0 m2 (0.313 in.) oF Lesa are located on oFvo} SOUND POWER LEVEL, PUR. (8 v 10°? wat) a Not: (1 Lend (CARBON STEEL PIPE OUMETER, DUN) 2s 28 “RECOMMENDED ‘DESIGN Litt” DIAMETER, © (am) ‘4 Aoourealy Induce Fale (Oete From Table 1) 1 Severe Vibaion, Sut No Faure (Ota From Table 1) 1 No Atnorma Expwenee (Dra Fram Tate 7) (2) Point | Faire Acoted To Severe Wald Undruting At A Stall onneson No'Atmormal Expeense After Cuity Wells Achieved (2) Al Osta Poin Are 8.9 men (0313") Or ta Wall Ticks, Eset For Pins 8 And 16 ‘When Are 85 om (0.375°) Wal Thickness, And 27 Which Is 17.8 mm (0.4607) Wal Tekres Fig. 3. SAFE DESIGN LIMIT BASED ON EXPERIENCE ‘GF ACOUSTICALLY INDUCED PIPING VIBRATIONS below the “Destge Limte” curve, Pointe 8 and 26 are 9.5m (0.3/5 in.) wall thickness, and Potat 27 {511.2 me (0.439 in.) wall thickness, These potats show that the increased wall thickness decreased the Vibration amplitude sufficiently to. prevent failure in these casee. Although thle Ie ioruffictent daca fo show the effect of wall thickness over the eatire range of pipe dlaneter, it indicates chat increasing the wall thickness ts directionally correct for Leviating a vibration problem, Point "Fis the only fallure polat below the “Design Lintt” curve. However, severe veld undercutting at a email connec lon caused the Fatlure and operating experience hao been satisfactory slace the connection was repaired with proper quality welding. This experience cor Firma the iaportance of locel stress iatensifte tone in vibrating piping systems. ‘The “Design Limit” curve can be used to evaluate both sev snd existing ayetens with large presoure reductions, ond high capacity gas flow for potential fatigue failure due to acoustically o- duced vibrations. Syotens with predicted PV's ex- ‘ceeding the “Design Linie” curve require close eval~ Sation, and coualderation must be given co either, Feducing the acoustic energy of eliminating piping Wesknesses that may lead to fatigue failure. Since the curve te based on actual field deta snd one 1a presented for larger then 900 me (36 inch) diameter fhere 1s currently to baste for extrapolating to larger diameters. Several createent alternatives shoold be considered for troublesome systenr to reduce exces five vibration levels. These treatments, vitch willbbe dtecussed in nore detail below, include spectal control valves of reatriction orifices which reduce Scoustic energy at the eource, in-line silencers Which ettenuete the energy before it reaches the Piping, ond structural danping and pipe. stiffening hich reduce the vibration amplitude. These con opts, which will be discussed in more detail, have been successfully used to prevent fatigue faiiures, tn several pressure letdown eysteas, such as com pressor recycle systens and safety letdown eystons. ‘The particular method, or coubination of nethods to alleviate en acoustic energy problen will depend fon the design detaile of the particular aysten involved. {ow worse cowMROL VALVES Attenuation of acoustte energy at th source ts the most desirable approach to achieving Acceptable energy levele vithin piping systems if At 48 economically and physically feasible. Te eorbulent intensity of a fluid stresm, and conse: ‘quently the acoustic energy generated, 1s very sen~ Seive to the shape of the fluid path. Several. com trol valve manufacturers have taken advantage of thle characteristic and developed nev valve. denigne that generate acoustic energy ata level substan tally lover than that of conventional valves.[12, B) The first of these valve configurations ‘adopts a conventional cage style globe valve, but fitted with « special multiple path tein designed to reduce noise. A drawing of one valve of this type ts shown in Figure 4. It operates on the principle that a lover noise level is generated by 2 given mass flow pessing through « number of exall ‘reas rather then one large aren. This type cage denige ainiaizes turbulence levels and provides & favorable velocity aiatrtbution in he expansion area. As @ result, {e generates lover sound power Teveie- [14] Another concept in low poise control val veo ts the “staged trim” valve, This ta a plug sad orifice valve ta a series or multi-stage configure Elon. Unlike the modified cage trim valve whlch Still takes the total pressure drop in ene etep, the Stage trim design distributes the pressure losses ‘acrons several pluge or orifices (etages). Under These conditions, the velocity through each stage te considerably lowered. In effect, objectionable levels of acoustic energy would tot be generated at the stare if ehrottling velocities within the valve can be Limited £0 subsonte conditions. [15] A valve fof this type 10 show schenetically ia Figure 5. Yor this shaped plug, the ctrcunference ‘and thos the flov area is gradually increased tovard the discharge. “This helpe to compensate for the in- cereage in spectfic volume aa the preesure dectesses ‘ani helps to Linit the tncresse. in velocity. The Intermeshing flow pattern between the step provides 4'large number of sharp ture for the fluid. The 4s Intended to result in a high velocity “ead loss” and, therefore, a reduced velocity. The third type of tow soles valve is 2 labyrinth = 'dise design, Basically, this valve con Mate of s atack of round discs with « hole in the Genter and @ cylindrical apindie of plug in the owe Special Venturi Fig. 4. MULTIPLE PATH TRIM TYPE LOW NOISE VALVE hole. As shown io Figure 6, the individual dises fre designed with a munber of inlet passages and tach passage Sn a Inbyrinth that ie ectually « Shore friction tube consisting of @ munher of right fangle turne in series. The munber and shape of these turme are calculated and designed to be suf Hcteat to dissipate the total required pressure Maintaining drop at 8 specified subsonic velocity. this valve ger valves of this type vere ouccesefully used to eliminate severe acoustic vibrations aad stant fatigue failures ia the recyele a7eten of # wultincomponent Refrigerant Centrifugal com pressor for a large ING producing facility (refer EovTable 1, Point D). Ae shown by Figure 7, 30 octave band analysis of noise levels of the’ origi fel recycle eyeten conpared with measurements mai with this valve replacenent reveals at least 20 d8‘Special Staped “Type Trim & ‘Subsonic Velocity Fig. 5. STAGED TRIM LOW NOISE CONTROL VALVE Spindle oF Plug Fig. 6. LABYRINTH DISK TYPE LOW NOISE VALVE 6aol 130} 119} es ‘SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL, DECIBELS RE Q.0002 MICROSAR 3 TL a2. orignal cyte Vat With ALSPL meses 2" Coors fen 1 1 L 1 ovis Reo Van Spee + sutntton Of Later te Type Vso om src of ping L os aso rT (OCTAVE @AND CENTER FREQUENCY - HERTZ Fig, 7, NOISE REDUCTION ACHIEVED BY MODIFICATIONS TO LNG ‘st STAGE REFRIGERATION COMPRESSOR RECYCLE SYSTEM eduction in the critical high frequencies in the ange of 300 £0 2000 Hr. Although these. sound. pr sure levels are obtained from the outside surfaces of the recycle piping, they do reflect the acoustic nergy reduction achieved Inside the syste One potential problem with all the sbove tow noise valves is thetr relatively saall flow pas~ sages. These tend to trap Iine trash such aa veld Seeds, olag, scale, or other large eolid debris that night be in'the Line. This trash can cause Jamming {in the elose-fieting tnternal parts. fence, 1 12 exerencly Important to Heep the Lince upstream of these valves free from trash. One aothed would be the use of ruggedly designed strainers The above descriptions of valve types are only three of many which are currently on the mar~ Kets These are provided ae exaaples of several de- atgn detatle used to reduce high acoustic energies, but ace not the only ones. The particular lov, noise type valve utilized wtll depend on the specttic systen design details, MULTI-STAGED RESTRICTION ORIFICES The restriction orifice ts another device watch ean control the amount of scoustle energy enerated ot the source. Properly designed. sul— fiple restriction orifices installed in series can be used to reduce the magnitude of the. pressure drop sceurriag at one polat in che pressure. letdown system. This 18 done by achieving the total re= quired pressuse drop in controlled stages, eh ducing the energy generated. Figure 8 provides uldelines whick should be considered in the design Of a gulei-otaged orifice eysten,Design Guidelines High Pressure Gas "© Maximum PRy presuce ratio at reducing valve ‘or orifice no greater than eritial value (Approx mately PR © Pipe Size, Dn, should result inline velocities no seater for fu as x, = Or! cell . : fg qa 7 ‘a 139) than 0.5 sone. «Line length, Ln, should be 5 t0 10 pipe diameters 1 flow rasovery PRe Pha On 4 Fig. 8. MULTLSTAGED RESTRICTION ORIFICES Almost all one-stage pressure letdown ystems operate at choked flow conditions and, a6 Such, usually geoerate extrowely high levels of tcouitie energy. The excese preseure Tatho of the ‘choked flow condition seeuite in increased turbi~ ence and shock waves in the flow downstream of the valve. A significant reduction in acoustic energy can bo realized if the total required pressure drop 4p gradually achleved chrough a series of staged eas at control valves, efther in conjunction vith conventional valver or to extend the pressure ratio Tange of low noise valves. Howover, there 18 a Tiateation in the operational range’ that can be expected of any installation using such device ‘The fixed restrictions operate best at essentially fone condition. logs of efficiency and noise reduc~ ing capabilities will be experienced for installa~ loge heving high variations in streen conditions, uch ao upstream pressure, nase flov rate, oF ges Lf excessive levels of acoustic energy still exist, consideration should be given to sul- Eiple flow pass systens. In addition to redvelag PlL's wichin any flow branch, parallel passes vould resuit dn enaller diaseter piping, which © ie¢ susceptible to fatigue fatlure. This approach could be considered tn conjunction with conventional oF Tow noise Letdown valves, ee well ae with sceged orifice plates, depending on the particular system. REDUCING ACOUSTIC ENERGY WITHIN TE TRANSMISSION PATH The second approach to reducing the a60 atic energy contained with eritical piping com ponents sa path treatnent. Path treatment regulates the tapedance of the transaiaaion path in order to ‘reduce the acoustic energy traneatteed to the piping. To attenuate acoustic energy, in-line stlencers are the moat effective method of path Createent. “A etlencer located ta the line dow stream of a pressure reducing valve will reduce the acoustic energy near ite poiet of origin and prevent it from propagating sloag the pipe. However, Experience has shown thet s{lencere theaselves are ifusceptible to nechenical failure fron exposure £9 ‘high acoustic energy. In addition, che experience of comercially avaliable in-Line silencers has 12 any cases been ousstlelactory for attenuating ‘excessive control valve noise levels to acceptable Lite. However, considering that proper deeign may preclude these dtavbacks, the ute of in-line silen~ cere cannot be completely diamiered for inatalle~ hone requiring high levels of attenuation.Incline stlencers reduce generated acous~ tie energy by ether modifying the scoustic wave shape (reactive or tuned type) or by absorbing the ‘through the silencer fe of their greater effec in attenuating a wide range of frequencies, the dissipative te unually preferred over the Te active type for silencing control valve nol The dlastpetive silencer te generally pecked with a porous acoustic material- The absorp Eon of sound takes. place by the local tateraction fof the sound wave with this acoustic material, Te Sulting in frictional dlssipetion of the acoustic energy: The acoustic offectivences of dissipative Silencer ie dependent upon the geometry, the fluid ‘How velocity through the eilencer, the acoustic propertion of the absorbing material, the wave Teagth of sound, and the characteristic impedance propertion of the fluid media, The proper design Of may silencer must consider all of these depend~ feat variables to order to achteve optimum acoustic performace.[17] “Figure 7 provides an example of the nofse reduction capabilities of a particular Aissipative ailencer deolgn. Thts one vas in~ ‘stalled in the sane LG coupressor recycle system Atecunsed earlier, hen in-line sflencers are used, @ de~ talled review of their design should be performed. This should Inclode the normal nechanical consider ‘ations uch as weld detaiie, thermal expansion, pressure, ete. Since the eilencer iteelf must with Scand faitgue fatlures from acoustic energy, the sign and fabrication of internal componente, ‘eepectaily on the inlet end, should reflect a hgh Standard of mechanical integrity. Additionally, the acousele packing aaterial should be properly Eetained. and be compatible with the flula flowieg Through the silencer, Also, the acoustic packing material should be checked for suitability with Feqard to the teaperature requirenente and poe thle soteture collection. omeutves 10 meenove STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE SYSTEM When the frequency of the driving acoustic evergy aatches a mechanical naturel frequency of the piping components, the vibration amplitudes, end. re Sulting stress levels are angnified over that devel~ Oped by a static acoustic pressure. Im addition, this streve level is increased because of local strese intensifications that occur at points of dis continuities within the piping systen. Steps that, reduce piping vibration splitudes or taprove ryeten wechanteal tacegrity should be considered as eolu- Efons to the fatigue fatlure problem. The damping capabtitty of a atructure te one of its most inportant properties when it under {gots vibration of « resonant. character. When & Simple linear ayaten Je excited harmonically st ite ‘natural Frequency, the daaping ts the only eysten Characteristic vaich controle the response. Te ‘bene systen, when excited randomly az io the case of acoustic excitation, resulte in a randon-resonent Character. Any increase 10 the damping of the #1¢~ laificant vibration wodes of the structure offere © tmeans of reducing the vibration amplitudes. and Strengthening the piping eysten 18 one mesne of reducing vibration amplitudes and affords possible solution to the fatigue failure prob- Jens. [18] “However, this approach involves’ a much greater risk. Ar present, there ts insuffleteat fata to accurately predict the anount of stiffening, land the reinforcing required to. Limit the vibratory fanplitude cannot be theoretically established. Bow fever, an added safety margin against plping fatigue Fatlures can be achieved through the elimination of ALL high atreae concentration detatle fron piping dovastrean of high capacity pressure reducing syecent Based on pest expertence, asymmetric de- continuities in the pipe wall, euch as branch con nections, support saddles, and restraint attachaeate fre potential fatigue fatlure pointe. Fatigue failures are caused by the peak cyclic stresses thet occur at these detain where the vibrating pipe wall ts abruptly restrained by an asymettte. die ‘onenasey. Acteymetrte discontinutties in the pipe wall ouch as at flanges, valver, and stiffening Tings, have been found rot to be potential fatigue Eatlure pointe, Tale te because the pipe will vibeation amplitudes danp out gradually a" they approach an axteyanetric. dlacontinulty due to the cylindrical shell stiffening effect. In this way, the shell vibration cyclic stresser are ainiatzed. Teta algo interesting to note ehat an acoustically Aaduced fatigue failure har not occurred in a sec~ los of plain unseiffened pipes ‘Therefore, the only Fecommended precautions to’ be caken for sxieymerrte discontinuities 6 to assure good quality full pen- ‘tration welds with po undercut in flange, stiffener Hing, of pipe welds. In the case of asymetric dlacontinutticn, two approaches have proven to be adequate? (1) hange an asyanetric. discontinuity nto ap axisyen tric one by the use of stiffener ringe or fll ‘ncirclenent reinforcement, and (2) eLiainate the bruptacas of the discontinuity by soothing out the transition in stiffness through the use of Welding tees or eaddle type reinforcement. The following design requireneata should be considered for piping downetrean of the pressure reducing valve to help improve the mechanical integrity of the system against fatigue fatlur Use pipe with ain{aum wall thickness of 13 am (/2'tn.) to sncresse overall piping reatet= ‘mice to vibration and decrease stress Use velding tees or full wrap around reto~ foreeneat at all branch coanections, 100 am Gta.) dtaneter and Larger. [19] Partial reinforceneat pado should sot be used. ‘© Uoe full vrap around retnforcenent at welded ‘on support shoes or restraint pointes Con ‘Sider bolt on thoes or clanpe to eliminate all Velde eo pipe at supports or anchors. For {2 creased reinforcement of large diameter piping ‘over. about 600 am (24 in.), consider wring ‘thoes or Testraine potats # Eltninate sual vente and draine, or where this is not practical, remove the cantilevernipple and valve and replace with « solid plug ‘after pressure teating 1a complete. 4s Saall dlaneter branch connections (50 mm (2'ta.) and snaller) should be nade by using 2 6O00P coupling welded to the Tun pipe along, with a reinforcing pad. Use socket welding Snatesd of screved fittings since fatigue cracks can develop in the threads of a sereved fieetag. The above recommendations offer guide Lines for « pressure reducing aysten vith respect to acouthcally induced fatigue failures. They. ‘are usually applied to the piping downstzoan of the pressure reducing valves for a distance of ‘bout 50 pipe diameters for every 2 dB. the sound power level te above the “Design Limit” or smtil the next large voluse unit, for example, 2 drum or tover 1s reached. Bovever, they are not substi~ tutes for the couparivon of the levels to the “Design Linte. COUCLISTONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ‘he reliability of pressure reducing oys~ tens can be increased through the application of the technology in this report. Acoustic energy levels generated by conventional pressure reducing devices cen be aalytically predicted and compared to the empirically derived “Design Limit”, chereby Sdentifying systems with potential problens. Vi~ bration and energy reduction treatments can then be applied co svold potential fatigue fallure. The selection of specific treatnents for each critical Anstallation 1e dependent on the severity Of the vibration, the energy reduction required, the total Lime of operation, and economic and operational considerations. The folloving item Aighlighe important deatga considerations. for syt tens potentially susceptible to acoustically induced vibration. © Fatigue fatlure ts sore prevalent with thin all, large dianeter pipe. Therefore, for tev pressure letdown installations, coueider the tee of minimum dameter piping’ of 13 m0 (j2'in,) wall thickness consiatene with process requirements and maximum recomended Tine velocities. 4© Avot sonte conditions at piping dtscontin~ Metes, such az Branch connections, reducers, fee, Since these piplag componests are not Genigned to be contrelied pressure, reducing ‘tations, they have proven to be sore sul ‘ceptible to fatigue Failure, te particular treatment employed depends on the degree of attenuation required and the design of the aysten in question. However, generally speaking, Mgh scoustic energy Should be reduced at the source using low or parallel flow paths. ‘© Steps that elteinate points of high stre strength of the piping eystew will offer Improved resistance to fatigue failures. ‘The concepts presented in this paper have been successfully enployed in the design of a let~ down systen for a natural gas pipeline, « steam de- ‘superhoater system, several compressor recycle 678 tens, and several safety letdown flare systems, ell ‘ap the troubleshooting of eysteus which wif fered fatigue failures; The design approach de~ ‘teribed provides a rational baste for predicting the Ikelihood of experiencing damaging piping v~ Deation caused by high acoustic energy. However, since 1t 1a based ona correlation of ectual ope! sting experience, {t S0 Limited by the number and Fange of available data points. An increase in the umber of data points, especially in the Larger pipe dlanetere shove 24 in., will increase the use fulness of this prediction technique, Te ts hoped that publication of thie paper will stimulate di cussion on thie subject and increase the readily available data base.8 10. RR 15. 16. a. > G. Hy "Plow Induced Structural vibra Journal of Engineering Mechanica, Proceedings, ASCE, Vols 91-EH6, 1965. Powell, A, "On the Mechanism of Choked Jet Notee,* The Physical Soctety, London Proceed~ Ange, Vol. B, 66, 1953,,ppe 1039-1056. Bull, Me Xe, “Boundary Layer. Preseure Fluctua~ fond,” Noise and Acoustic. Fatigue in Aero= antics, (Edited by £. J. Richards and Ded. Mead), Wiley, London, 1968. Lighentll, M. Jz, "On Sound Conerated soro~ dynuntcally, Part 1", Proceedings of Royal Soctety (London), 1952, Recthof, G., “Turbulence Generated Noise in Pipe Flow,” Flutd Mechanics, Vol. 10, 1978, pps 333-367- Blevins, E D., “Formulas for Natural Pre ‘quency and Yode Shape,” Van Nostrand Relnbold, New York, 1979, Dowell, B. He, and Ventres, Co S.y “Modal Bquations for’ the Nonlinear Wlexoral Vibra thone of a Cylindrical Shell,” Ine. Journal of Soltds structures, Vol. 4, 1968, pp. 975- mm. Hubbard, H. Hey and Houbole, J. Coy "Vibra Hone Induced by Acoustic Haver,” Shook and Vibration Handbook (Edited by C. Me Barrie and C.'By Geode) MeGraw HEIL, New York, 1961. Theletsch, He, “Defects and Fatlures in Prew sie dad Piping,” Reinhold, New York, Allen, £, Es, “Wechantans of Note Generation by Fluta’ Flow Through Control Valves, Inter Mtee 72 Proceedings, 1972. Level Prediction,” Instruments and Control Systems, April, 1971. ‘Arent, J. B., "Spectal Control Valves Reduce Notee and Vibration,” Cheatcal Engineering, March, 1972. Proonen, Me Le, "Predict Valve Notse ~ Then cure Ie,” Power, August, 1972. Bulletin 80:005, Fisher Controle Company, September, 1976. “Wagonetian Notse Control Manual,” Bulletin 0230008. tagonetlan International, Ine, 1977+ Self, Re Ee, “Why Velocity Control,” control Compdaents, Ine. Bulletin No. 100,”1972. Beranek, Ls Le (ED.), "Noise and Vibration Control, Chapters 16 and 17, Hecraw Bll, isn. Clarkson, B. Cx, and Otcel, Fo, "Methode of Reducing the Response of Totegrally stlffened Structures to Handoa Pressures,” Journal of Engineering for Industry, Noveaber, 1969. ANSI 3318, Standard for Gas Transmission and Distetbutton Piping Systeas, ASME, 1975 Edition.Bh taseat ae teauee > scope conprntor 26.0 Eig vtecey de chieat at 30m Gi.) beach conection of 60 a (24 i.) ps 2 Slt eletySeltnlene 0 i fe) ranch enti te) Gos acd mus sxeERncy of razssine pO STONES STOIED ‘aan uate eu on «0 es need by ouivey sed 2, onbtnnd scoutie energy thin, 00 m,(2 fn) henler 86 gene Bhiow: Toes 59 COPD wee 234,000 378,000 950,000 292,80 265,00 sa, W gibt = 0.4536 x W Ub/bty Dam = 25.4 xD tn, Hime star swzcorss “nous “ces 4 0.230 a oon 2 ons as 0.250 mon 68.50) Bite sarione sarenteuce {at tan) header Sees ae ah wtpeatone, Storm arin) Potts of nigh stres Cet Setempornor, feolece fedenlen of gett les me tse et.aa, rrr Hassune “rwesune’ mughime Cine Seat" recomes eset same oe Tee Tosi Tine at ae Sie’ Se