Development of New Type Gas Holder with High Reliability (2)

Structural Analyses on Gas Holder under Operation and Wind Load

Abstract

Since a gas holder is a huge steel structure, it is important to keep its rigidity and strength considering piston movement and gas sealing.
In this paper the fatigue strength of side wall of a newly developed COS-type gas holder was studied based on the structural analysis by the finite element method. And the side wall deformation under strong wind was also analyzed to know the wall/piston interaction and the effect to the strength of the gas holder. The following conclusions are obtained.
(1) The fatigue strength of a cylindrical COS-type gas holder is verified superior to that of a polygonal POS-type gas holder.
(2) As the side wall deformation under wind load increases in accordance with gas holder capacity, the flexibility of the sealing device is much more required. The gas sealing device of COS-type, whose packing ring is composed of reinforced rubber, is applicable to the larger size because of its flexibility.
(3) It is necessary to consider the deformation effect of the shell structure in designing the stanchion and the base under wind load, because beam theory tends to underestimate the force of windward stanchions.