Burst Pressure

Definition - What does Burst Pressure mean?

Burst Pressure is the theoretical internal pressure exerted on well casing walls, casing joints, pipelines and pipe joints, or any other pressure equipment that can fail due to high internal pressure. When designing the machinery for the oil and gas industry or any other manufacturing industry, the calculation of the burst pressure value of equipment is one of the important key factors during the control and contingency operations in an industrial setup.

Petropedia explains Burst Pressure

A Casing Burst Pressure is a situation which arises due to the expansion of natural gas when it is on its way to the earth's surface. It expands due to a change in temperature and pressure conditions, exerting tremendous amount of internal pressure to the wall of the well casing. When the internal pressure becomes higher than the external pressure, the well casing is exposed to the condition of burst pressure loading. Minimum burst pressure that can rupture the well casing can be found by using the following equation:


= minimum burst pressure in psi

= minimum amount of yield strength in psi

t = wall thickness in inches

D = outside diameter of pipe

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