THE INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM GUIDELINES FOR THE SAFE AND OPTIMUM DESIGN OF HYDROCARBON PRESSURE RELIEF AND BLOWDOWN SYSTEMS August 2001 Published by ‘The institute of Petroleum, London ‘A charitable company limited by guaranteeCopyright © 2001 by The Insite of Petroleum, London ‘A charitable company limited by guarante. Registered No, 135273, England Allright reserved No pa ofthis book may be reproduced by any means, or transmitted or wansated into ‘machine language without the writen permission ofthe publisher. SBN 0 85293 287 1 Published by The Institute of Pezoleum Further copies canbe obtsined from Portland Press Lt. Commerce Way, ‘Whitehall Industrial Estate, Colchester O02 BHP, UK. Te: 4 (0) 1206 796 351 email ssles@portandpress.coma a 447 Soin LORSO, CONTENTS Page Foreword as Acknowledgements 2.2... A ntroduetion...... 2... eeeeeeeeeees 2. Pressure protection systems ye 3. Design of relief and blowdown sytems . 4- Sizing of relief and blowdown devices... -.....00.c0ceccsseceseesteseseseetseseeseeees 59 5 Design of flare and vent systems os 6 6 Lessons learned from industrial experience ... : 83 ‘Annex A References and acronyms . 103 ‘Annex B. Sizing equations for single phase flow through relief and blowdown valves, 107 Annex C Review of prediction methods for two-phase choked flows in relief and blowdown systems 111 ‘Annex D Results of spadeadam experimental validation 19 ‘Annex E Algorithm for the prediction of choked two-phase flows in orifices using the homogeneous equilibrium model .. Pe é 135 Annex F Example of application of algorithm for calcetation of choked two-phase flow using homogeneous equilibrium model ee ; .B9 143 Annex G Comparisons of prediction methods for choked two-phase flow ..... W