Heat Exchanger Flange Design

COMPRESS automatically considers mating flange bolt loads as required by ASME VIII-1, Appendix 2-5(a)(2). When would a designer run into this situation you might ask? Heat Exchanger designs are where this situation is most often encountered.

Tube side and shell side flanges share common bolting, may have different gasketing and are simultaneously subject to different pressures. The question is which side and condition governs the joint?  Appendix 2-5(a)(2) addresses this situation directly.  Bolt loads from gasket seating and operating conditions are determined for each flange and the controlling load is used for the design of both flanges.

Flange design in COMPRESS

Flange MAWP Analysis

COMPRESS can also determine Appendix 2 flange maximum allowable working pressures (MAWP).  As there is no direct solution, COMPRESS iterates the pressures of the shell side and tube side until one of the allowable stresses is reached.

Obviously flange design (or analysis) is much more complicated when performed on a pair of mating flanges. In this case, the flanges have a common link, the bolting. The MAWP (or MAP) of a flange may be restricted so as not to overstress the bolts or to prevent one of flanges from being overstressed. There is some judgment required here as well.  In certain cases the MAWP of one flange will be directly controlled by the maximum pressure of the mating flange. In other words, increasing the MAWP of one flange may reduce the MAWP of the mating flange.

Featured Heat Exchanger Design Capabilities

Efficient Modeling Simplify heat exchanger design with a guided workflow and built-in ASME and TEMA code compliance. Design Conditions Simplify complex heat exchanger design by allowing multiple operating conditions to be evaluated simultaneously, including true MAWP determination. Tube Bundle Streamline tube bundle replacement by modeling and analyzing only the bundle without recreating the full exchanger. Multiple Codes Supports multiple ASME and TEMA code editions, automatically applying the correct allowable stress values for each. Flange Design Automate complex flange analysis by accounting for shared bolting, governing loads, and iterating conditions to determine accurate MAWP. FEA for Expansion Joints Integrated FEA for TEMA expansion joints, enabling fast, automated analysis with minimal setup and optimized performance. Lift Lugs for Channels Enable lift lug design directly on exchanger subassemblies, eliminating the need to recreate components in separate files. ASME Reports Generate comprehensive, easy-to-navigate ASME calculation reports covering all design and hydrotest conditions. ASME PCC-1 Appendix O Evaluate bolted joints per PCC-1 Appendix O, determining optimal bolt stress and torque while ensuring gasket, bolt, and flange integrity. Automated Drawings The Codeware Interface is an Autodesk Inventor add-in that generates drawings and solid models from COMPRESS designs Finite Element Analysis in COMPRESS