Dear all,

Firs of all, sorry for my bad English.
I write you to ask if in your opinion the design / calculation of the steam collectors, used sometimes in power generation for mixing/storing/deviating the steam , should be designed according to the ASME BPVC (i.e. section VIII) as pressure vessels or according to ASME B31 (in this case 31.1). The same would apply (I believe)to the European Codes 13480 and 13445.

In my opinion the difference should be the type and relative importance of the stresses you can find. The pipes, due to its geometry, being one dimension much bigger than the others, can be treated as unidimensional elements (correcting the local effects by means like the sifs...) and the vessels need, at least, two dimensions to be defined. Since this differentiation is not always so obvious I kindly ask you if you have any criteria to decide which code or type of analys should be used.

For those who do not work in this area, a steam collector is basically a long cylinder made from pipe, with its ends closed by caps and several nozzles to collect / distribute the steam between pipe systems...

Thank you in advance for your kind help

From a very cold Spain

Regards

Manuel Crespo

See the brief attached thread: http://www.coade.com/ubbthreads/ubbthrea...=true#Post31164

Again look at the valve placement and the scope diagrams at the front of the B31 codes. "Relative importance of the stresses" is IMPLIED via the B31 scope diagrams, not by one's feelings.