|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
Standards are becoming an increasing part of the life of every engineer concerned with heat exchanges or fired heaters. We therefore felt it useful provide information on standards in the context of how it affects hts Members in the UK. This is a changing area and the following articles will be updated from time to time. International StandardsThe Institute of Petroleum (IP) co-ordinates the UK effort on the development of International Standards for the petroleum and natural gas industries on behalf of BSI. There are several standards covering process heat transfer equipment, offshore exploration, production and pipelines mostly based on existing API standards. In the process heat transfer area, the UK has taken the lead in standards development with Colin Weil and Bob Berryman of the hts acting as project leaders for 4 out of the 5 documents. Two have recently been published and three more will follow over the next year or so.The current standards in this area are
The IP encourages participation across the industry in the development of the standards through a network system. If you would like to comment on any standards up to the final draft stage please contact Sjoerd Schuyleman at the IP (tel: 020 7467 7132). The IP website address is: www.petroleum.co.uk. A link to ISO TC67 for more general information on developing international standards is: www.api.org/iso/tc67 A list of other standards currently under development will appear soon. European Legislation and StandardsThe Pressure Equipment Directive, 97/23/EC, sets out the Essential Safety Requirements which must be met before pressure equipment or assemblies may be placed on the market or put into service anywhere in the EU. The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers approved the PED in May 1997, and the Directive has now been transposed into UK national legislation by the Pressure Equipment Regulations 1999, SI No. 2001. These Regulations came into force on 29 November 1999. There is a transitional period up to and including 29 May 2002 during which time the regulations are optional, but after that date the Regulations will become mandatory.The Pressure Systems and Transportable Gas Container Regulations 1989, have been revoked and are replaced by the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/128), which apply to the design and construction of pressure equipment not covered by the Pressure Equipment Regulations, and also to the use and ongoing integrity of pressure systems. The PED was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (No. L181 of 9 July 1997 – ISBN 011 916 0927). Copies of the Official Journal, the Pressure Equipment Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2001) and the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/128) are available from The Stationery Office Ltd, 51 Nine Elms Lane, London SW8 5DR (Tel: 020 7873 9090, Fax: 020 7873 8463). The text of the PED may also be downloaded from the European Commission PED website at ped.eurodyn.com (NOTE there is no "www" in this website address). The DTI have produced a free guidance booklet (URN 99/1147) for the UK Regulations, and this is available from the DTI order line on 0870 1502 500. The DTI Standards and Technical Regulations Directorate website address is www.dti.gov.uk/strd The European Commission has given The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) a mandate to produce harmonised standards to support the Directive. There are three types of harmonised standard: product standards (eg pressure vessels, boilers, piping, etc), supporting standards and material standards. The draft CEN Standard for Unfired Pressure Vessels, prEN 13445, was circulated in 1999 as a Draft for Public Comment. The comments are now being reviewed by the various CEN committees responsible for the standard. Copies of the draft standard may be obtained from BSI, 389 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 4AL. Tel: 020 8996 9000, Fax: 020 8996 7400, website www.bsi-global.com Some other website addresses for European and other international standards organisations are given below:
TEMA StandardsThe Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers' Association (TEMA) produce the most widely known standard in the heat transfer business, which is on shell-and-tube heat exchangers. They currently update the standards every 10 years with "TEMA 98" having been published slightly late, in 1999. This latest version includes the following main additions and changes
ALPEMA StandardsThe Brazed Aluminium Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger Manufacturers' Association, ALPEMA, recently announced the publication of the second edition of their popular Standards. Copies can be obtained from ALPEMA Members or direct from the Association General Secretary, Dave Butterworth. An innovation is that the document is also available as an Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file which makes full use of hypertext links. This version may be downloaded from the ALPEMA web site standards page. The Standards support the main objective of the ALPEMA which is to promote the safe use and quality of brazed aluminium heat exchangers. Topics addressed in the Standards include materials of construction, design, manufacture, mechanical standards, installation, operation, contractual information and good practice. Discussions are currently underway with the American Petroleum Institute (API) to produce an international standard for these exchangers aimed specifically at petroleum applications.
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
