Pressure Vessel Integrity Programs

Pressure Vessels are closed containers designed to confine fluids and gases either above or below atmospheric pressure. Pressure Vessel Integrity Programs help owners and insurance companies maintain the safety and continuing operation of pressure vessels and comply with Local Jurisdictional In-Service Certificate Inspection registration requirements.

In general, all pressure vessels and associated safety relief devices are required to have periodic inspections.  These include In-service Certificate Inspections. These inspections can be internal and external or only external.  Pressure vessels not having internal access require an external Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) inspection method, such as Ultrasonic Testing (UT) measurements.

 Original in-service certificate inspections can require a substantial amount of time spent tracking down all pertinent certification documents. Both certificate inspections and other periodic inspections are difficult to coordinate and schedule. Presently the Local Jurisdiction or the insuring insurance company is required to perform in-service certificate inspections.  An insurance company can only perform in-service certificate inspections if they employ authorized inspectors.  CES has been awarded  its commission from the National Board of Boilers and Pressure Vessels (NB) as an Authorized Inspection Agency (AIA).  However,  the local jurisdiction needs to amend its regulations before a  non-insuring NB AIA can perform in-service certificate inspections.  CES will still be able to play a major role in assisting owners and insurance companies in maintaining safe and reliable pressure vessels and boilers.

CES, Inc. can help you by:

• Assisting in determination of which pressure vessels require Local Jurisdiction registration and which are exempt;
• Developing site-specific software to track the status of pressure vessel integrity programs;
• Locating external NDE points on pressure vessels not internally accessible for inspection;
• Assisting in development of a rotation schedule for inspections;
• Coordination and scheduling of NDE engineering consultants to run "Risk Assessments";
• Coordination of approved repairs or alterations to pressure vessels and boilers by "R" Stamp certified contractors.

For more information or to request a proposal, please contact Dennis Sanborn.in our Brewer office.