Jacketed Vessel Design
Jacketed Vessel Design
Jacketed Vessel Design
The design of dimple jackets permits construction from light gauge metals without
sacrificing the strength required to withstand the specified pressure. This results
in considerable cost saving as compared to convention jackets. Design calculation begin
with an assumed flow velocity between 2 and 5 ft/s. As a rule of thumb the jacket
pressure will be governing when internal pressure of vessel is less than 1.67 times the
jacket pressure. At such conditions, dimple jackets are typically more economical than
other choices. However in small vessels (less than 10 gallons) it is not practical to apply
dimple-jackets.
The design of dimple jackets is governed by the National Board of Boiler and Pressure
Vessel Inspectors and can be stamped in accordance with ASME Unfired Pressure Vessel
Code. Dimple jackets are limited to a pressure of 300 psi by Section VIII, Div.I of the
ASME Code. The design temperature is limited to 700 F. At high temperatures, it is
mandatory that jacket be fabricated from a metal having same thermal coefficient of
expansion as that used in inner vessel.
In order to complete the overall heat transfer coefficient calculation, an estimate must
also be made inside the process vessel. The following estimate should yield reasonable
results:
Calculating the Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
When calculating the overall heat transfer coefficient for a system, the vessel wall
resistance and any jacket fouling must be taken into account:
Notice that the thermal conducitivity of the vessel wall and the wall thickness are
included in the calculation. A typical jacket fouling factor is around 0.001 h ft F/Btu.
When calculating the overall heat transfer coefficient, use a "common sense" analysis of
the final value. The table below will give some guidance to reasonable final values:
English Units
Metric Units