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Air Reciever Tanks Fabrication 1

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shafmech

Mechanical
Sep 5, 2009
10
Hi all...
I work as a Detailer with a company which supplies pre-fabricated piping for process plants. The company is building a new facility now.
Yesterday I received 2 vague drawings of air receiver tanks (for the new facility) and my boss told me we are going to fabricate these
2 air receivers here!!!
We don't do PV fabrication and we don't have U stamp certification either.
What they might have done is, they have copied some drawings which were readily available in the internet and decided to proceed with the
fabrication of them. Now detailing those 2 vessels is my responsibility. Though I have some knowledge on PV design and detailing, I really
wonder if it is ok fabricate just with some drawings (without doing design and analysis).
QA/QC manager argues "We do not have to Code Stamp these Air receivers if we are the end buyers.
We’ll only follow all ASME Sec VIII Div 1 requirements for Fabricating them with our internal Quality Checks"

I would greatly appreciate if you could assess this scenario to me coz if anything goes wrong, I'l be the "scapegoat" in the "Blame game".


Below are the details...

2 Air Receivers 1 for 2500 gal. and the other is for 5000 gal.

2500 gallons receiver--
Dia 60"
Height 235" (approximate LOA)
shell .25 Nom SA455
Heads .312 Nom SA516 Gr 70 matl.
Working pressure 150 psig


5000 gallons receiver
Dia 72"
Height 235" (appr. LOA)
Shell .375 Nom SA455
Heads .375 Nom SA526 Gr 70
working pressure 150 Psi


(If anyone can provide me any specific drawings for these would be a lot helpful.)


 
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You might check if your state regulates pressure vessels. And check with your safety people to see if there's an OSHA requirement or any internal policies that would require ASME stamping on vessels.
 
Check with your insurance carrier to see if they will accept this.

rmw
 
Figure out if this is legal and legit before you do anything. Air receivers that size are regulated by somebody- doubt you'll be able to do these "non-code". Merely having ASME IX qualified welders, which it sounds like you do, isn't enough.
 
shafmech,

In what state will these vessels be fabricated ?

Where will they be installed ?

 
Thank you all for your comments.
I have partly been able to convince the higher ups here about the regulatory issue and they are now looking out for some design firm to deal with this...

Vessels are fabricated and installed in UAE/Arabian Gulf.
 
Air receivers are a pretty "standard" item made by many firms. I would think it would be simpler to just buy from a regular producer of these items, even if they have to modify them slightly for your needs. Then you get all the stamps, approvals, etc....
 
jdarco: agreed. We have our own U stamp and even we wouldn't bother to make receivers like these. There are people who mass produce them and we couldn't compete.
 
It is a good thing that there are not too many people with the same mentality as your boss. Follow the above responders' advice.
 
This is how we still have catastrophic vessel explosions. Rarely, in the last few decades, but they still occur.

The stored energy at 6 atmospheres in a 1M dia x 2M long air tank is similar to a kilo of TNT. Ask the boss ifhe minds if you start working with TNT, since there are no pesky ASME or EN Codes to comply with in the country you folks are working. Nothing to forbid engineering foolishness.
 
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