I was out of the office most of last week. To close this issue I will copy and paste a "standard" reply I use when this question comes up (it is "standard" but discusses numerical values for a specific case).
While the discussion below is not the only explanation for this issue it is the most common. Nor is the suggested resolution the only one possible (nor is it possible in all cases).
Discussion:
The Deficiency message for the affected nozzles in your file results from a "perfect storm" of events and does not indicate an error in the calculations.
COMPRESS determines the pressure acting at the elevation where the nozzle penetrates the outside surface of the shell or head. The pressure includes the design pressure plus any static head at that location. To eliminate confusion, the same pressure is applied throughout the entire nozzle analysis (except for an attached flange) for purposes of all applicable nozzle checks, eg: area replacement, UG-45, etc.
Because the pressure used for nozzle design is taken at the outside surface of the shell it will always exceed the pressure at the inside surface of the shell. This contrasts with the MAWP (or MAP) of the shell components being based on the pressure acting on the inside surface of the shell.
In some cases the design of nozzles for the chamber MAWP (or MAP) is logically impossible due to a contradiction: the MAWP is based on the inside surface of the vessel, whereas the nozzle design is to be based on pressure at the outside surface of the vessel. The contradiction will occur when the component to which the nozzle is attached governs the chamber MAWP and yet the nozzle itself is to be designed for the chamber MAWP. In this case the required thickness "t" of the nozzle's parent shell component under the effect of the MAWP plus the small additional static pressure due to operating liquid acting over the thickness of the shell component will exceed the actual thickness of the shell component on which the chamber MAWP is based. Thus the "logical impossibility" of achieving this condition.
This problem may exist when all of the following conditions exist simultaneously (the "perfect storm"): (1) the nozzle design mode is set to "Chamber MAWP" or "Larger of MAWP or MAP", (2) there is a liquid level acting on the nozzle, and (3) the chamber MAWP (or MAP) is governed by the cylindrical shell or head to which the nozzle is attached. Under these conditions the thickness of the component required to support the nozzle design pressure (which is the chamber MAWP/MAP plus static head to outside surface of the vessel) will be greater than the actual thickness of the component (on which the vessel MAWP/MAP is based, as based on inside surface). In such a case the nozzle cannot be designed for the chamber MAWP/MAP and a different nozzle design mode should be selected.
For example, for your vessel the nozzle mode selected is "Chamber MAWP". The chamber governing value is 645.01 psi based on the bottom head. Nozzles "O3A" and "O3B" are located in the bottom head and must be designed for this pressure as well. COMPRESS also includes a portion of the liquid level acting on the nozzle, this results with the required thickness "tr" being slightly more than the actual head thickness.
Nozzles located on heads often benefit from the smaller value given in the definition of "tr" in UG-37(a). This benefit occurs only when the nozzle and all reinforcing is located within the "dished radius" defined in that paragraph. For example, nozzle O1 does not suffer this problem. The affected nozzles on the bottom head do not meet this condition. However, these nozzles have more than adequate reinforcing area and you could resolve the deficiency by specifying a user-defined limit of reinforcement that would bring all the reinforcing area to within the dished radius. I was able to resolve the problem for nozzle O3B by entering a user-defined limit of reinforcement of 6.5"; this was sufficient to bring all the reinforcing area within the dished radius, yet still provides sufficient reinforcing area.
Tom Barsh
Codeware Technical Support