×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Vacuum breaker
2

Vacuum breaker

Vacuum breaker

(OP)
Are vacuum breakers required according to any code for a heat exchanger condensing steam in the shell side?

We want to install a vacuum breaker as it would protect the shell, however others say there is no requirements per code and hence not needed.

Thanks in advance.

RE: Vacuum breaker

asv80,
The typical Mechanical design for the Condenser includes full vacuum at the suitable temperature (say design temperature). That is, no need for vacuum breaker. You will also have to consider the contamination of the steam system with air / oxygen, if you install that vacuum breaker;- you have in your system a deaerator perhaps, therefore you should not use vacuum breaker.
If you need to protect an existing Condenser, perhaps you should consider re-calculating the maximum vacuum it can take, to ensure that the calculated maximum is higher than the atmospheric pressure for full vacuum (refer ASME VIII-1, UG 28 and 29, AS 1210 cl. 3.8 and 3.9).

Cheers,

gr2vessels

RE: Vacuum breaker

asv....

I agree with the comments of "grsvessels" with the additional commnet that you should distinguish between "big and small"

SMALL:

For any S&T HX in shellside steam service, with a diameter of less than about 36", I would require a FV design.

BIG:

For any S&T HX larger than 36" AND all components of rectangular cross section (steam surface condensers) AND all deaerators, I would ask for the component quote two ways - first, with FV design and secondly with a vacuum breaker....

One cannot simply answer your question about "any heat exchanger" without making a size/function distinction...


My opinion only.......


-MJC

  

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources