Evaluation of Seismic Designed Pipe Racks under Accidental Explosions with Finite Element Method

Document Type : Research Papers

Authors

1 M.Sc., School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Professor, School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The safety of pipe racks in petrochemical sites or refineries needs to be considered to ensure a sustainable productivity and explosions would make these structures vulnerable. Non-building structures field have remained relatively intact in comparison with ordinary buildings for which state-of-the-art guidelines are regularly proposed and existing ones are renewed. To have comprehensive knowledge on non-building structures response to blast load, multiple factors are involved. This paper pinpoints how these variables affect the pipe racks and for this purpose, ABAQUS software undertakes the solving process as multi-degree of freedom (MDOF) and Finite Element method are required. Despite ordinary buildings, pipe racks are accompanied by non-structural components whose effects in design are evaluated not significant. Moreover, adequacy and accuracy of usual analysis including static and non-linear dynamic analysis are investigated. According to the calculations, static analysis is highly sensitive to irregularities and blast duration, therefore, it may lead to invalid results. Finally, a consequence analysis is suggested to be a contribution to engineers for outlining a well-arranged layout for different sectors.

Keywords


Aarønaes, A., Nilsson, H. and Neumann, N. (2015).  “Dynamic response of steel pipe rack structures subjected to explosion loads”, Steel Construction, 8(3),162-166, https://doi.org/10.1002/stco.201510022.
ASCE. (2006). Design of blast-resistant buildings in petrochemical facilities, Second Edition. Reston, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, USA, https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784410882.
ASCE. (2011). Guidelines for Seismic Evaluation and Design of Petrochemical Facilities, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, USA, https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784411407.
Bariha, N., Mishra, I.M. and Srivastava, V.C. (2016). "Fire and explosion hazard analysis during surface transport of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG): A case study of LPG truck tanker accident in Kannur", Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 40, 449-460, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2016.01.020.
Bedair, O. (2015). "Rational design of pipe racks used for oil sands and petrochemical facilities", Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction, 20(2), 0401-4029, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)SC.1943-5576.0000224.
Bloch, K.P. and Wurst, D.M. (2010). "Process safety management lessons learned from a petroleum refinery spent caustic tank explosion", Process Safety Progress, 29(4), 332-339, https://doi.org/10.1002/prs.10381.
Brode, H.L. (1995). "Numerical solution of spherical blast waves", Journal of Apply Physics, 26(6), 766-775, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1722085.
Chen, L. and Wang, Y.C. (2012). "Methods of improving survivability of steel beam-column connections in fire", Journal of Construction Steel Research (JCSR), 79, 127-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2012.07.025.
Chiranjeevi, M.D. and Simon, J. (2016). "Analysis of reinforced concrete 3D frame under blast loading and check for progressive collapse", Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(30), 1-6, https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i30/99232.
Crowl, D.A. and Louvar, J.F.  (2001). “Chemical process safety: Fundamentals with applications”, 2nd (ed.), Pearson College Division, https://doi.org/10.1002/prs.12086.
Drake, R.M. (2004). "Seismic code developments for non-building structures similar to buildings", Structures Congress, (pp. 1-11), American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA, https://doi.org/10.1061/ 40700(2004)93
Hansen, O.R., Hinze, P., Engel, D. and Davis, S. (2010). "Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for blast wave predictions", Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 23(6), 885-906, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2010.07.005.
Henrych, J. (1979). The dynamics of explosion and its use, 1st (ed.), Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Pub, https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.4290080309.
Sprague, H.O. and Legatos, N.A.  (2000). "Non-building structures seismic design code developments", Earthquake Spectra, 16(1), 127-140, https://doi.org/10.1193/1.1586087.
Kidam, K. and Hurme, M. (2013). "Analysis of equipment failures as contributors to    chemical process accidents", Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 31(1-2), 61-78,     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2012.02.001
Kong, X., Zhao, D. and Hu, S. (2018). "Environment and safety risk analysis of storage tank accidents based on vulnerability, Process management and emergency management", Chemical    Engineering Transactions, 67, 457-462. https://doi.org/10.3303/CET1867077.
Lai, E., Zhao, J., Li, X. and Guohua Chen, K. (2021). "Dynamic responses and damage of storage tanks under the coupling effect of blast wave and fragment impact", Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 73(1 November), 104617, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2021.104617.
Moharrami, H., Rashvandi, M. and Hajinouri, Y. (2016). “Evaluation of pipe racks design process and related codes”, Second National Structure Engineering Conference, University of Amirkabir, Tehran, Iran, (in Persian), https://civilica.com/doc/535909.
Moradi, M., Tavakoli, H.R. and Abdollahzadeh, Gh. (2021). "Comparison of steel and reinforced concrete frames' durability under fire and post-earthquake fire scenarios", Civil Engineering Infrastructure Journal, 54(1), 145-168, 10.22059/ceij.2020.292639.1628.
Aquino-Gaspara, H.M., Díaz-Ovalle, C.O., López-Molinaa, A., Conde-Mejíaa, C. and Valenzuela-Gómeza, L.M. (2021). "Incident analysis of the “Pajaritos” petrochemical complex", Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 70, 104404, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2021.104404. 
Newmark, N.M. and Hansen, R.J. (1961).  Design of blast resistant structures, Vol. 3, New York, McGraw-Hill.
Iranian Seismic Design Code for Petroleum Facilities (ISDPF). (2016). Seismic design of oil facilities code 038-3rd, Oil ministry of Iran, Tehran, Iran, (in Persian).
Planas, E., Pastor, E., Casal, J. and Bonilla, J.M. (2015). "Analysis of the Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) of a liquefied natural gas road Tanker: The Zarzalico accident", Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process, 34(1 March), 127-138, https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.jlp.2015.01.026.
Pula, R., Khan, F.I., Veitch, B. and Amyotte, P.R. (2006). "A grid based approach for fire and explosion consequence analysis", Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 84(2B), 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1205/psep.05063.
Roodpeyma, A.H., and Mahmoudzadehkani, I. (2021). "Assessment of Nonstructural components on dynamic Parameters of pipe racks", 5th International Conference on     Interdisciplinary Researches in Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Management in 21st Century, Tehran, Iran, (in Persian), https://civilica.com/doc/1156994/.
Shahiditabar, A. and Mirghaderi, S.R. (2013). "Pipe and pipe rack interaction", International Journal of Science and Technology, 3(5), 39-44, https://www.ijastnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_5_May_2013/4.pdf.
Simulia, D.S. (2015). Abaqus analysis user manual, Dassault Systemes, Pawtucket, USA.
Su, A. (2012). "Analysis of explosion load, Effects in pipe-racks", M.Sc. Thesis, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, http://hdl.handle.net/11250/238284
Suzuki, K. (2008). "Earthquake damage to industrial facilities and development of seismic and vibration control technology", Journal of System Design and Dynamics, 2(1), 2-11, https://doi.org/10.1299/jsdd.2.2.
Syed, Z.I., Mohamed, O.A., Murad, K. and Kewalramani, M. (2017). "Performance of earthquake-resistant RCC frame structures under blast explosions", Procedia Engineering, 180, 82-90, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.04.167.
Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC 3-340-02). (2008). Structures to resist the effects of accidental explosions, US Department of Defense, United States of America.