CCPS Guidelines for Pressure Relief and Effluent Handling 2nd Edition

Welcome to Inglenook's blog, Fireside Chats. Our goal for the blog is to address topics that may not be encountered everyday, but do deserve some consideration during efforts to ensure facilities are operating safely. Many "fireside chats" have led to great ideas, improvements, and opportunities. We hope these do too.

CCPS Guidelines for Pressure Relief and Effluent Handling 2nd Edition

Monday, June 17, 2019

The Second Edition of the CCPS Guidelines for Pressure Relief and Effluent Handling was released recently, and we have finally had a chance to review the contents. Overall, the book has had a significant overhaul and expansion on key topics. Some highlights include:

  • Expansion of techniques for analysis of reactive systems, including the use of adiabatic calorimetry and incorporation of many aspects of the DIERS Project Manual2
  • Updates to sizing and installation calculations, including two-phase flow handling and updated equivalent velocity head factors
  • Additional considerations for relief system installation, such as reaction forces
  • Worked example problems, with a significant amount of text devoted to the mechanics of SuperChems™

Inglenook’s Aubry Shackelford worked with ProSaf’s John Hauser on the update of the first edition’s §3.3: Venting Requirements for Non-Reactive Cases, attempting to expand on the first edition’s techniques for required relief rate evaluations and source models, as well as reorganizing a bit. Unfortunately, it appears that the majority of updates ended up on the editing room floor. Since we believe that there is some value to these updates, which underwent internal and external review and comment periods, we will be providing the content of the previously proposed updates, along with additional commentary.

The proposed reorganization was focused on categorizing the estimation techniques, discussing the common calculation models, and providing details on venting (required relief rate) requirements. Nonreactive venting requirement estimation techniques can be broadly classified based on the cause for volumetric accumulation within the container – heating or cooling of a constant volume container, a volumetric excess of material flow into or out of the container, or a combination thereof.

The blogs in this series are outlined below, with links that will be updated as they are published. In the event the CCPS Guidelines 2nd edition is substantially equivalent, a reference to the guidelines is made instead.


[1] AIChE Center for Chemical Process Safety. “CCPS Guidelines for Pressure Relief and Effluent Handling Systems”. 2nd Edition, 2017; New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[2] Fisher HG, Forrest HS, et al. AIChE Center for Chemical Process Safety. “ Emergency Relief System Design Using DIERS Technology: The Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems (DIERS) Project Manual”. 1992; New York: American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

0 Comments
Post has no comments.
Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *