Dear friends,
I am doing stress analysis of a column-vertical reboiler system(reboiler supported from platform).As suggested by my colleagues I need to input operating weight of reboiler in the CAESAR II model.I have the following questions in this regard:

Why is it so important to consider operating weight of reboiler in analysis?
As discussed with colleagues in my company they could cite the following two reasons:
(a)For spring design purpose if in case it is required to support the reboiler lugs due to lift-up.
(b)For proper calculation of seismic forces on the the exchanger which is weight dependent and which might affect nozzle loads in seismic cases.

Are these the only factors that demand the consideration of weight into anlysis?
If so should the same principle be extended to any vertical exhanger regardless of whether it is a reboiler or not?

I would really appreciate your valuable comment on this matter.

Both of those would be good reasons for accounting for the weight of a reboiler in your Caesar model.

In general, we don't mess with trying to accurately model the weights of equipment if we are including representations of them in our models. In general, it is of greater interest to use to get reasonable models of the temperature profiles so we can account for the thermal movements of nozzle connections and any shell attachments we are using to support our pipe.