Case Studies - Regulation Applications

Understanding and complying with EPA, ASME and OSHA regulations can be difficult and costly. Yet, because of the safety requirements and severe fines at stake, fabrication companies are wise to fully apply these standards and requirements.

This ASME regulation means I'm facing almost $1 million in testing expenses - Or, am I?

For the nuclear facility, performing an ASME-mandated hydrostatic pressure test on the welds of an in-service process vessel looked to be a nightmare. The vessel was suspended some 65 feet in the air, with three input nozzles and three output nozzles that would have to be removed and capped in order to perform the test - then welded back in place. Cumbersome and timeconsuming, the test would also be costly, estimated at almost $1 million.

The facility retained Integrated Consultants to perform the required ASME certification of the vessel. Our analysis showed that the pressure test as mandated had inherent problems in this particular case: the welds required to reinstall the three nozzles after the tests were longer than the welds that were to be tested within the vessel itself. Thus, performing the test actually increased the risk of problems.

Integrated Consultants devised an alternative method for testing the welds, using x-rays and magna flux, and advocated this alternative testing approach with the ASME review board in New York, winning approval. As a result, the vessel required no disassembly and rewelding: The nuclear facility had the vessel back in service in a fraction of the time, at about one-quarter of the cost.

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