Inspection and testing issues for pressure vessels and pressure pipelines
Thread Content
Pressure vessels and pressure pipelines are very common in chemical enterprises. I would like to know whether the companies where our colleagues work conduct annual inspections of such vessels and pipelines, as well as comprehensive inspections every 3–6 years depending on their safety conditions. What aspects are checked during these inspections, what methods are used for testing (mainly which non-destructive testing techniques), and which organizations carry out these inspections?
The original poster should take a look at the relevant sections of the solid content regulations; there are requirements specified there.
I know that regulations such as the Regulations on the Safety Supervision of Special Equipment, the Provisions for the Supervision of Fixed Pressure Vessels, and the Provisions for the Supervision of Pressure Pipelines in Chemical Enterprises contain relevant provisions on this matter. What I would like to know is how enterprises implement these regulations and whether they are actually followed. When I was in school, I visited several power plants and boiler manufacturing facilities, and found that they followed strict procedures for inspecting pressure vessels: they carried out external inspections, hydraulic tests, radiographic inspections of welds, used ultrasound to measure the thickness of vessel walls, and inspected safety accessories as well. However, after starting work, I discovered that many companies, especially those that use medium and low-pressure vessels, did not conduct inspections in accordance with the regulations ； Inspections of pressure pipelines are even rarer, and the main reason is likely that people consider such inspections to be too troublesome and require production to stop. Additionally, it seems that there isn’t enough oversight in this regard; perhaps I’ve only seen a few companies, so I’m not sure if other companies are the same
The annual inspection is a self-inspection carried out by the manufacturer, while the comprehensive inspection is conducted legally by local pressure vessel inspection agencies and special inspection institutes. The inspection methods are selected by the inspectors based on the actual circumstances and in accordance with the regular inspection regulations for pressure vessels. During a comprehensive inspection, it is necessary to review the reports from recent annual inspections in order to identify any issues. Pipeline inspections started late and were not carried out in a fully standardized manner, but as far as I know, strict standards are still applied in Nanjing