Comparative design and cost analysis of cylindrical storage tanks with different head types by using COMPRESS

Abstract

Storages or transmission tanks as a pressure vessel appear in various areas as diving cylinder, reactor technology, petro-chemical industry, distillation towers and rainwater harvesting tank. The main goal of this study is to propose a simple method to solve, with minimum effort and acceptable reasonable accuracy, the problem of designing a storage vessel subjected to uniform internal pressure by using a commercial program. Besides it discusses the use of stainless steel instead of carbon steel which is preferred in general in the construction of tanks. For this purpose a storage tank has been designed for 10 atm of internal pressure and a temperature of 120 °C and capacity of 1500 lt. The use of two different materials and three different head types has been chosen for the tank. The COMPRESS program, which is preferred for obtaining quick results in the design of this type of tank, has been briefly introduced, and the design makes use of this program and also meets the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, Section VII, Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels Division 1 standards. Finally, weight, ease of production and cost analyses of the tank design has been made with respect to the different types of material and head type used.