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NiCuZn · Black Owl — Engineering calculation sheet

Horizontal drum sizing.

Size a horizontal process drum from liquid hold-up, then check vapour disengagement with the Souders–Brown limit.

Liquid
m³/h
min

Typically a few minutes; your company standard defines it per service.

%
–

Process drums are commonly around 2.5–5.

Vapour
kg/h
kg/m³
kg/m³
m/s

Roughly 0.05–0.1 m/s as a start, depending on internals.

Results

Diameter1.19 m
Length (tangent to tangent)3.58 m
Working liquid volume2 m³
Total drum volume4 m³
Allowable vapour velocity1.58 m/s
Actual vapour velocity0.083 m/s
Actual / allowable5 %

Preliminary estimate for early engineering. Check against your design basis, standards and vendor data.

Method

How it is calculated

The working liquid volume is the liquid flow multiplied by the hold-up time. Dividing by the share of the drum it occupies gives the total volume, and the diameter follows from the chosen length-to-diameter ratio, ignoring the heads:

V = (π D² / 4) × (L/D) D  ⇒  D = (4V / (π · L/D))1/3

The vapour check uses the Souders–Brown relation for the maximum allowable velocity:

vmax = K √((ρL − ρV) / ρV)

The vapour flows through the space above the liquid, approximated here as the unfilled share of the cross section. If the actual velocity exceeds the allowable one, increase the diameter or lower the liquid fraction. Nozzles, inlet devices and levels are set in detailed design.

Read: equipment sizing basics →All engineering tools →Size equipment from your own balance in Black Owl ↗

Calculated with the free engineering tools at nicuzn.com/tools. Preliminary estimate for early engineering; check against your design basis, applicable standards and vendor data before use.