Abstract: The function of the liquid-vapor separation baffle is to divide the inner space of the container into two parts for holding different media. When only one side of the baffle is filled with materials, the stress and deformation of the baffle are large, and the baffle is easy to be damaged, thus causing safety risks. Based on the comparison of the analytical method for calculating the stress of the liquid-vapor separation baffle of the horizontal vessel, this paper deeply analyzed the bearing model and failure mode of the baffle, and investigated the stress and deformation laws of the liquid-vapor separation baffle of the large diameter horizontal vessel and the baffle with reinforced ribs with the help of the finite element analysis software. Meanwhile, the paper also investigated the influences of the thickness of the baffle, the size, position, number and the arrangement of the reinforced ribs on the maximum stress and deflection of the baffle. The following conclusions were obtained: increasing the thickness of the baffle to some extent can obviously improve the stress of the baffle, but when the thickness of the baffle reaches a certain value, increasing the thickness of the baffle cannot obviously improve the stress of the baffle; when arranging the reinforced ribs of the baffle, the area of the partitioned interval by the reinforced ribs should be as close to equal as possible, so that the force of the baffle can reach a better state; the recommended height to thickness ratio of the flat steel is 8~10; setting longitudinal reinforced ribs on the vertical axis of the baffle can improve the force of the baffle obviously; the number of reinforced ribs should be set reasonably and too many reinforced ribs will increase the welding workload and influence its economy.

Key words: large diameter horizontal vessel, baffle, reinforced ribs, finite element analysis, stress, deformation