4 Most Important Safety Precautions for Operating Pressure Vessels

Pressure vessels are large containers that are used to hold gases or liquids at high temperatures. The contents of pressure vessels are at substantially different pressure than the ambient pressure. If this pressure is not maintained properly, it can be very dangerous and lead to fatal accidents. Thorough care needs to be taken to avoid such accidents. What care should you take while working with these high pressure vessels? This post will discuss different safety precautions that are very important to consider for a safe operation of pressure vessels.

What Safety Precautions Should One Consider While Working with Pressure Vessels?

For a better and safe operation of pressure vessels, they need to be handled with utmost care and certain precautions. What are these precautions? Read on to know:

  • Timely Maintenance: For a pressure vessel to function properly, it requires regular maintenance. You should have a proper maintenance program of the entire pressure system, which checks the age of the vessel. One thing you should keep your eye on is the signs of problems. If a safety valve is discharging rapidly, then it is either a sign of a faulty safety valve or over-pressurizing system. Besides this, you should also check for any signs of wear or corrosion.

  • Proper Knowledge and Training: The person operating or handling pressure vessels should have a proper skill set, as well as knowledge about the equipment. Necessary training must be given to those who are responsible for repairing, maintaining, installing, or checking the pressure of the equipment. You cannot afford to let a person of little knowledge about the equipment handle it, for obvious reasons.

  • Understanding Operating Conditions: This is one of the most important factors to be considered. You should have a proper understanding about the gases or liquids contained in pressure vessels, along with its nature – toxic or flammable. Once you know the content of the pressure vessel, you need to know the operating conditions, which include temperatures and pressures. Having the correct information about system’s operating limits it extremely important.

  • Installing Protective Devices: When it comes to taking precautions of pressure vessels, you need to ensure that suitable protective devices are installed, and adjusted to the correct settings. These protective devices can be safety valves or any device which shuts down the operation, when the temperature or pressure exceeds the maximum value. You can also opt for warning devices, which send out signals by lighting or sound, so that it grabs your attention. It is also necessary to keep these protective devices in good working condition, only then you can expect their proper functioning. One thing should always be followed – the protective devices should only be operated or altered by an authorized person.

All the safety precautions mentioned and discussed above are very important and you cannot afford to overlook them. One small mistake can lead to a huge loss. Therefore, it is always recommended to get help from experts and check whether the pressure vessels installed in the industry are at safe pressure. Also, you should buy pressure vessels from trusted and well-known manufacturers, who do not compromise on the quality of their equipment. BEPeterson is one such expert, which makes use of advanced manufacturing techniques to deliver quality pressure vessels to its clients.

VP of Business Development Dan Szczurko joins the podcast to discuss the pressure vessel business & market segmentation. Furthermore, he gives an overview of the sales process from a customer’s perspective.