Pressure Vessels At The Most Basic Level
Pressure vessels are containers for pressurized liquids or gasses. These containers are required in many manufacturing processes such as making steam, gasoline, or fertilizer, and a million other useful, desirable products. Pressure vessels are the foundation of chemical and energy processing and they range broadly in size and complexity. The fuel for your propane barbecue comes in a pressure vessel. If you live out in the country, your heating gas may come from a tank out in the yard which stores liquid propane. Both of these are common consumer pressure vessels. The cat cracker at your local refinery and the truck carrying ammonia to the farmer are also pressure vessels. You see these containers all the time if you know where to look.
Construction of pressure vessels
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) maintains the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (Code), which governs the construction of pressure vessels and boilers. The Code’s first writing resulted from a 1909 boiler explosion which killed 58 at a shoe factory in Massachusetts. Thd Code first published in 1915 and for the past century has been the authoritative guide for the methods and materials used in boilers and pressure vessels. The current Code has 16,000 pages and is organized into 28 separate volumes.
The ASME Code serves two distinct purposes. This Code provides a complete set of rules for the design and construction of pressure vessels. For almost all cases, the design method is by rule and is not a rigorous calculation. This method produces very conservative designs with ample safety factors based on mechanics of materials theory and empirical experience. The other purpose is to codify data about a large selection of materials suitable for use in manufacturing. Data like chemistry, minimum strengths, operating temperatures, and the like.
Most vessels in petrochem service are made from steel rolled or forged into the desired shape. The Code dictates the thickness, mechanical strength, and impact resistance the materials of construction must meet. The Code specifies qualifications and certification for welders and other fabricators. Additionally, the Code specifies testing protocols to verify acceptable quality of vessel construction.
Pressure vessels exist in a wide variety of sizes and configurations. The most common are cylindrical but others are spherical or conical. One of the most frequently recognized shapes is the cylinder with elliptical endcaps, which is the shape most commonly used.
While plain carbon steel is a very common selection, stainless steel and other alloy steels are used when the process calls for it. The process may call for an alloy rather than plain steel if the process is too cold, too hot, or too corrosive. Carbon fiber or composite materials appear only in very specialized applications where weight is determinate. Composite construction has high tensile strength and is considerably lighter than steel containers. However, the detailed and critical manufacturing process required and difficulty of damage repair makes composite pressure vessels more expensive than their steel counterparts.
Many vessels are installed with a pressure relief valve nearby. These safety valves are designed to protect the vessel from pressure transients or out-of-control conditions. The Code also dictates testing frequency and protocols for these protective devices.
Contact Serco, Inc. with questions regarding pressure vessel or boiler fabrication and repair. We are qualified to fabricate vessels in our shop and repair vessels or boilers in the field. We use the software package COMPRESS, do all our own welding, and perform our own pressure tests. Please call to discuss the services we have available. Contact us at (806) 273-7614 or send us an email. We also invite you to stop by our office located at 1430 North Main Street in Borger, Texas.
Construction of pressure vessels
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) maintains the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (Code), which governs the construction of pressure vessels and boilers. The Code’s first writing resulted from a 1909 boiler explosion which killed 58 at a shoe factory in Massachusetts. Thd Code first published in 1915 and for the past century has been the authoritative guide for the methods and materials used in boilers and pressure vessels. The current Code has 16,000 pages and is organized into 28 separate volumes.
The ASME Code serves two distinct purposes. This Code provides a complete set of rules for the design and construction of pressure vessels. For almost all cases, the design method is by rule and is not a rigorous calculation. This method produces very conservative designs with ample safety factors based on mechanics of materials theory and empirical experience. The other purpose is to codify data about a large selection of materials suitable for use in manufacturing. Data like chemistry, minimum strengths, operating temperatures, and the like.
Most vessels in petrochem service are made from steel rolled or forged into the desired shape. The Code dictates the thickness, mechanical strength, and impact resistance the materials of construction must meet. The Code specifies qualifications and certification for welders and other fabricators. Additionally, the Code specifies testing protocols to verify acceptable quality of vessel construction.
Pressure vessels exist in a wide variety of sizes and configurations. The most common are cylindrical but others are spherical or conical. One of the most frequently recognized shapes is the cylinder with elliptical endcaps, which is the shape most commonly used.
While plain carbon steel is a very common selection, stainless steel and other alloy steels are used when the process calls for it. The process may call for an alloy rather than plain steel if the process is too cold, too hot, or too corrosive. Carbon fiber or composite materials appear only in very specialized applications where weight is determinate. Composite construction has high tensile strength and is considerably lighter than steel containers. However, the detailed and critical manufacturing process required and difficulty of damage repair makes composite pressure vessels more expensive than their steel counterparts.
Many vessels are installed with a pressure relief valve nearby. These safety valves are designed to protect the vessel from pressure transients or out-of-control conditions. The Code also dictates testing frequency and protocols for these protective devices.
Contact Serco, Inc. with questions regarding pressure vessel or boiler fabrication and repair. We are qualified to fabricate vessels in our shop and repair vessels or boilers in the field. We use the software package COMPRESS, do all our own welding, and perform our own pressure tests. Please call to discuss the services we have available. Contact us at (806) 273-7614 or send us an email. We also invite you to stop by our office located at 1430 North Main Street in Borger, Texas.