Measurements of Blowdown Thrust Loading in Natural Gas Facilities

The thrust loading on a vertical blowdown stack during a natural gas blowdown was investigated using a combined experimental and modeling approach. A gravimetric vessel initially at 4000 kPa-g was blown down through two geometrically different stack assemblies. Thrust loads were measured using a dynamic weigh scale typically used for gravimetric calibration of gas flow meters. A one-dimensional compressible flow model, calibrated using the experimental data, revealed stagnation pressure losses at the entrance to the riser, resulting in lower thrust loads. A comparison between thrust loading obtained from the measurements and the one-dimensional compressible flow model is presented. This work shows that the analytical flow model predicts the blowdown thrust loads within ±30%.