Recreating a U1A Form

[Regall]

We have a client in the state of Colorado who is trying to put a pressure vessel back in service but there have been problems in locating the documentation for the vessel. The Colorado Boiler inspector requires any such pressure vessel must be board certified or in the event a board certification is not available then a waiver is needed. The waiver requires a Manufacturers Data Report / U1A form to satisfy this requirement. The challenge we are having is locating the U1A and since there is no board certification we are not able to contact them for copy.

My question, is there a means of recreating a U1A / Manufacturers Data Report on a pressure vessel? According to the name plate it has a U stamp. We have already conducted the API 510 which passes the physical/visual inspection requirements.

 

[Duwe6]

If you mean that the vessel was not listed with the National Board, you are in a tough spot. Contact the manufacturer and request a copy of their U-1. Offer to pay for it. Go see them, if you have to. If none of these work, you will have to reverse-engineer the vessel and come up with a material type and grade that show that the vessel was barely adequate when it was built.

Barely adequate, meaning A-36 or A-283 Gr C, istead of the more common SA-516 Gr 70. Rational is that you are forced to be conservative while reverse engineering, BUT based on the U-stamp the vessel was of acceptable material and thickness when it was new. Meaning that IF the vesssel is still at nominal thickness, no significant corrosion, it is still acceptable for continued use. Then you present your 510 results and the reverse-engineering calc's to the Colorado Board and hope that they will be accepted.

If your vessel has lost significant thickness, and the mfr will not give you a copy of the U-1, you have a planter box, not a vessel. Because you had to make the conservative assumption that the vessel was barely adequate when U-stamped, and it has lost thickness, it is now below the [assumed] required thickness.

And don't ask how I know all this.

 

[MJCronin]

This is a very interesting thread, and I would assume that others have been confronted with this situation.

Anybody else willing to share their undocumented PV stores ?

MJCronin
Sr. Process Engineer
Venture Engineering & Construction

http://www.VentureEngr.com

 

[GenB]

If the mfr is gone, there isn't anything to get a data report, unless you contact the jurisdiction just in case they have a copy. I had the same experience but in my case the inspector approved the vessel just by looking at the nameplate. If your State did not require NB registration on the year of construction of the vessel, check previous operating permits on the vessel. They should accept it as it is.

 

[metengr]

You cannot re-create a U1 form. I just visited the web State of Colorado web site for boiler/pressure vessel inspection and it appears you will need to apply for a variance for this pressure vessel. It will be up to the Jurisdiction to decide on how far they want to take this.