Certification Program for Assessing the Mechanical Integrity of Pressure Vessel Systems

Pressure vessels play an integral role in the operation of facilities such as refineries, chemical plants, power plants, both on land and offshore platforms. Consequently, with the increased need for profitable production cycles and pushing pressure systems to their limits, the potential for failures has increased. All of this takes place in an environment where shut-downs and losses of production are expensive. The likelihood for catastrophic failures is also increased, which carries the potential for major costs due to equipment failure, lawsuits, and danger to the public. For these reasons, the Pressure Vessel Certification Program was developed. The cornerstone of this program is technical application of design methods coupled with detailed inspection for assessing the present quality of the vessel. The framework for this effort is built up on careful inspection and readily-accessible documentation that can be used as reference material and integrated within a companies’ risk analysis and safety programs. The long-term element of this program involves regularly-scheduled inspections (e.g. every 3 years) to ensure that the vessel conditions do not change to the point where safe operation is no longer possible. The intent is of the Pressure Vessel Certification Program to ensure that the inspected vessels operate safely for their intended service conditions and intended design lives.