Three main phases can be distinguished in the life cycle of an item of pressure equipment: design, manufacture and operation phase. In order to avoid problems in the latter two phases, it is crucial that particular attention is paid to the design phase. Our engineers assess the design of your pressure equipment and installations in order to check whether they comply with the relevant rules, in order to issue a certificate to you.

What you need to know

By ‘design’ we refer not only to dimensioning and determination of the minimum required thicknesses but, in general, the determination of all the parameters and procedures that guarantee optimal manufacture and operation of the equipment or installation in question. This relates, in particular, to:

  • the risk analysis
  • the selection of material
  • general dimensioning and determination of wall thickness
  • determination of the main manufacturing parameters (forming, welding, heat treatment, etc.)
  • the program for destructive and non-destructive tests
  • determining the strength and tightness tests
    protection against breaching permitted thresholds

Our engineers assess the design of pressure equipment and installations, whether such evaluation has been commissioned voluntarily or is required by the law, in order to check whether the same comply with the technical and administrative requirements set out in the regulations, international standards and your specifications.

To do this, they consider a variety of parameters and requirements:

  • purpose of the equipment or installation
  • regulatory context
  • applicable standards and codes, and their edition
  • requirements supplementing the standards and codes
  • basic parameters for dimensioning:
    • main dimensions
    • design pressure
    • minimum and maximum design temperatures
    • operating pressure
    • operating temperature
    • test pressure
    • own weight
    • weight of the fluid
    • transient phases
    • number of cycles
    • external load at the connections
    • wind
    • earthquakes
    • dynamic loads
    • properties of the fluid
    • supports
    • potential degradation mechanisms
    • requirements for protection (for example, against overpressure)
    • requirements regarding accessibility for in-service inspections

This review is carried out by engineers specifically trained for this purpose and equipped with the required tools (computing programs, etc.). The outcome of the review shall either be a design review report or a formal certification of the design as required by a particular regulation (type approval, etc.).