Pressure Vessels: Handling and Maintenance

February 6, 2014

Pressure vessels are containers or storage tanks that have been designed to hold and operate at pressures over 15 pounds per square inch gage. With this kind of pressure, these containers pose a number of safety hazards which means they should be handled with utmost caution and care.

Pressure vessels are used in a wide array of applications in both private homes and heavy industries. Some of the samples of pressure vessels are domestic hot water storage tanks for homes and industrial compressed air receivers for manufacturing plants and other industries. There are also diving cylinders, distillation towers, recompression chambers, autoclaves, pressure reactors, and other like vessels used in oil refineries, mining operations, petrochemical plants, submarine and space ship habitats, nuclear reactor vessels, pneumatic reservoirs, rail vehicle airbrake reservoirs, hydraulic reservoirs under pressure, road vehicle airbrake reservoirs, as well as storage vessels for liquefied gases like chlorine, ammonia, butane, propane, and liquefied petroleum gas.

The pressure variance is hazardous and numerous fatal accidents have happened already. That is the reason why a lot of things that deal with pressure vessel including its design, manufacture, and operation are all evaluated and controlled by authorities supported by legislation. The definition of a pressure vessel is different for every country but they all involve restrictions on temperature and maximum safe operating pressure.

If you are running an industry that uses pressure vessels, your work area has to regularly undergo safety inspections in order to make sure that your containers are free from crack and other damages. The moment pressure vessels develop cracks, they immediately become dangerous. A single crack can lead to leaks and ruptures. Leaks, especially when dealing with pressure vessels with high psig can present major safety concerns. Some of the potential hazardous results of leaking pressure vessels include poisoning, asphyxia, fire, which later on can lead to explosion. Rupture failures caused by leaky pressure vessels may be even more disastrous. They can cause massive amounts of damage to property and life.

To avoid harm and tragedy when using pressure vessels, all necessary precautions ought to be observed. Some of the safeguards that are absolutely necessary when working with pressure vessels include a solid and safe design, proper handling and maintenance, and meticulous installation in line with official codes and standards. These precautions, when followed, are unconditionally essential to protect people’s health and safety.

Because pressure vessels are important tools used in the storage of certain liquids and gasses, it is also important to ensure that they are being operated properly. There is always the danger of injury or even death where high pressure containers are present. For that reason, proper handling and maintenance in both the manufacture and usage of pressure vessels are tremendously important. The right knowledge of local and federal parameters for pressure vessels help in ensuring the safety of everyone involved with them.

Contact Details

Fusion - Weld Engineering Pty Ltd
ABN 98 068 987619

1865 Frankston Flinders Road,
Hastings, VIC 3915

Ph: (03) 5909 8218

Optimized by NetwizardSEO.com.au