Vibration Design of Amine Regenerator Tower and its Piping System

Abstract

Fluid induced vibration in high-elevation tower and its piping system is examined with on-site measurement, numerical simulation, and analytical model. In this article, Amine regeneration tower in gas separation plant is subjected to investigation since significant vibration in both tower and its piping system prevents the normal operation especially with increased loading capacity. Measurement in frequency domain for inlet piping system shows single dominant peak as well as small peaks in low frequency range. In search of solution, analytical study with computational fluid dynamics model is conducted to reduce fluid velocity which results in decreased dynamic force in both piping system and regeneration tower and reduces the fluid-induced vibration associated with slug flow. Based on the fluid dynamics study, piping modification is designed and applied to the piping system and tower and vibration improvement is achieved as expected.