The Vibroacoustic Analysis of The Hydrocarbon Processing Plant Piping System Operating at Elevated Temperature.

In this paper it is presented the vibroacoustic analysis of the selected section of the hydrocarbon processing chemical plant piping system operating at elevated temperature and subjected to dynamic load exciting vibration of the structure. The pump suction and discharge piping system is a part of chemical plant for processing hydrocarbon mixture at 270° C. Elevated temperature is one of static loads that influences the boundary conditions of the piping structure thus generating pump nozzle loadings leading to possible pump body deflection. Deflected shape of the pump body results in generation of flow fluctuation, visible and measurable as a pressure pulsation. This kind of fluctutation has been assumed further to be one of the dynamic loading on piping system structure. The dynamic analysis was performed to quantify the loading effect of pressure pulsation excited in the pump discharge nozzles on the structure of pipelines and the connected pump nozzles. The simulation was based on the numerical analysis of the excitation by acoustic waves propagation in subjected piping system. Measured on–site pressure pulsation at pumps nozzles has been identified and assumed to be the source of the acoustic waves. In the simulation elastic features of the piping structure as well as the fluid, and pressure loses in pipes, taken into account. Final result of the acoustic part of the simulation was spectral characteristics of the acoustic shock forces, defined further as harmonic loads for the dynamic structural analysis. To observe an influence of the acoustic excitation on the piping there was performed structural analysis of the piping system and the combined results of static and dynamic loading influence determined. This part of the analysis has been perfomed by means of FEM computer software Bentley AutoPIPE as well as some use of ANSYS FEM program. Important step in this simulation there was the theoretical modal analysis. This analysis allows to predict possible vibroacoustic resonance in the structural system under specific conditions of the coincidence between acoustic excitation and modals. The results of the combined static and dynamic loadings analysis contain the information on the node displacements, internal forces, resulting stresses in the pipe walls and loads on the pump nozzles and piping supports