Question: The chemical reactor shown below has a cover (called a head) that is held in place by a series of bolts. The head is made

The chemical reactor shown below has a cover (called a head) that is held in place by a series of bolts. The head is made of stainless steel (SG = 8.0), is 3 in. thick, has a diameter of 24 in., and covers and seals an opening 20in. in diameter. During turnaround, when the reactor is taken out of service for cleaning and repair, the head was removed by an operator who thought the reactor had been depressurized using a standard venting procedure. However, the pressure gauge had been damaged in an earlier process upset (the reactor pressure had exceeded the upper limit of the gauge), and instead of being depressurized completely, the vessel was under a gauge pressure of 30psi.

(a) What force (lbf) were the bolts exerting on the head before they were removed? What happened when the last bolt was removed by the operator? Justify your prediction by estimating the initial acceleration of the head upon removal of the last bolt.

(b) Propose an alteration in the turnaround procedure to prevent recurrence of an incident of thiskind.

BOLTS HEAD REACTOR 24 in. 00000003 in. 444 20 in. BOURDON GAUGE

BOLTS HEAD REACTOR 24 in. 00000003 in. 444 20 in. BOURDON GAUGE

Step by Step Solution

3.43 Rating (156 Votes )

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock

a mead W 11 x 24 x 3 in 4 392 lbm head 1 ft 12 in Fnet FgasFatmW 80 x 6243 l... View full answer

blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Document Format (2 attachments)

PDF file Icon

13-E-C-E-C-P (82).pdf

180 KBs PDF File

Word file Icon

13-E-C-E-C-P (82).docx

120 KBs Word File

Students Have Also Explored These Related Chemical Engineering Questions!