Pressure Vessel Manufacturers Adhere to Strict ASME and Code Pressure Vessel Manufacturing Guidelines!

Our pressure vessel manufacturing, storage tank manufacturing and heat exchanger fabrication programs each carry special codes, marks and symbols of quality control and industry specification guidelines.  Bendel Tank & Heat Exchanger has a long history of compliance and adhering to these professional codes, symbols and industry manufacturing guidelines.

The UL Mark

The UL Mark on a product means that UL has tested and evaluated representative samples of thatproduct and determined that they meet UL requirements. Under a variety of programs products are periodically checked by UL at the manufacturing facility to make sure they continue to meet UL requirements. The UL Marks may be only used on or in connection with products certified by UL and under the terms of written agreement with UL. In addition to these marks, UL also provides access to the marks required in a number of other key world markets.

The R Stamp

The National Board offers the Certificate of Authorization and R symbol stamp for the repair and/or alteration of boilers, pressure vessels, and other pressure-retaining items.  Organizations seeking a National Board R Certificate of Authorization must:

• have and maintain an inspection agreement with an authorized inspection agency;
• have a written quality system that complies with the requirements of the current edition of the NBIC and includes the expected scope of activities;
• have the current edition of all three parts of the NBIC; and
• have available a copy of the code of construction appropriate to the intended scope of work.

The U Stamp

It is a mark applied to the name plate of a pressure vessel by an authorized shop or other organization to indicate that the vessel has been fabricated in accordance with the ASME Section VIII Division 1 Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Along with the stamp there is a U-1 Form that provides details such as Maximum Allowable Working Pressure, Materials, Type of Non-Destructive Examination, etc. Some states have laws that require the use of the ASME Code for pressure vessels and boilers.

NFPA 22

This standard provides the minimum requirements for the design, construction, installation, andmaintenance of tanks and accessory equipment that supply water for private fire protection, including the following: (1) Gravity tanks, suction tanks, pressure tanks, and embankment-supported coated fabric suction tanks (2) Towers (3) Foundations (4) Pipe connections and fittings (5) Valve enclosures (6) Tank filling (7) Protection against freezing.

API 650

API 650 standard covers adequate safety and reasonable economy for tanks used in the storage of petroleum, petroleum products and other liquid products. It establishes minimum requirements for material, design, fabrication, erection, and testing for vertical, cylindrical, above-ground, closed- and open-top welded storage tanks for internal pressures approximating atmospheric pressure. A higher internal pressure is permitted when additional requirements are met. This Standard applies only to tanks whose entire bottom is uniformly supported and to tanks in non-refrigerated service that have a maximum design temperature of 93°C (200°F).

These codes and marks are the most common standards and guidelines that we strictly adhere to when manufacturing products for our pressure vessel, storage tank and heat exchanger customers.

To find out more about our specific manufacturing products, please call Jim Rozsa  rozsa@bendelcorp.com or Vince Petrucci petrucci@bendelcorp.com at Bendel Tank & Heat Exchanger headquarters in Charlotte, NC at 866-596-5112.  Or if you are in TX, AR, LA or OK, please call our regional sales manager Fred Weissbach in Houston at 832-436-4626 or email weissbach@bendelcorp.com.  We look forward to serving you soon from Bendel Tank & Heat Exchanger.

Technorati Tags: pressure vessel manufacturers,pressure vessel manufacturing,storage tank manufacturers,storage tank manufacturing,heat exchanger fabricators,heat exchanger manufacturers,gulf coast storage tank manufacturers

Heat Exchanger Engineering & Storage Tank Engineering from Bendel Tank & Heat Exchanger.

The Bendel engineering and drafting teams are highly-trained, experienced and focused professionals.  Our internal system stresses definition of design, testing, fabricating, and quality control at each stage of development.

Our engineers and draftsmen are highly-trained and experienced with the following design and engineering software:

• AutoCAD: Design and dimensional layout of Storage Tanks, Pressure Vessels, Reactors and Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers.
• Compress: Mechanical design of Pressure Vessels, Reactors and Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers.
• HTRI: Thermal analysis of Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers.
• Custom “In-House” programs: Developed by our experienced engineering staff for the efficient creation of Bill of Materials and Customer Quotations.

We are frequently called upon by our clients to address unusual and challenging vessel design scenarios, and our engineers currently design to the following industry-recognized codes:

• ASME Section VIII, Div. 1 (U & R Stamps)
• TEMA
• API-650, 620 and 12F
• UL-142
• NFPA-22

The Bendel engineering team has a primary focus to design and produce best-in-class mechanical designs to meet all technical and mechanical industry standards.

Bendel Corporation has developed our Quality Assurance Program around the requirements of the ASME Code (Section VIII, Division I) for the design and fabrication of shop built Tanks, Pressure Vessels and Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers.

The Program is documented in the Bendel Quality Control Manual and is reviewed annually to ensure compliance with all of the latest revisions of the ASME Code.

If you would like more information about our Bendel heat exchanger design and fabricating program, please call us at 866-596-5112 or contact  Vince Petrucci or Vivek Patel at Bendel.

Technorati Tags: heat exchanger engineering,heat exchanger fabricators,storage tank engineering,storage tank fabricators,pressure vessel engineering,HTMI software,CodeWear software engineering

Heat Exchanger Fabricator Has Flow Arrangement Options

We have been posting some “behind-the-scenes” and educational information about Heat Exchangers, how they work, what is the science behind them, etc.  And now we want to take a look at “flow arrangement” and how we classify flow arrangement when fabricating our Heat Exchangers.

Basically, there are two primary classifications of heat exchangers according to their flow arrangement. In parallel-flow heat exchangers (at left), the two fluids enter the exchanger at the same end, and travel in parallel to one another to the other side.

In counter-flow heat exchangers (at right) the fluids enter the exchanger from opposite ends. The counter current design is most efficient, in that it can transfer the most heat from the heat (transfer) medium.

For efficiency, heat exchangers are designed to maximize the surface area of the wall between the two fluids, while minimizing resistance to fluid flow through the exchanger. The exchanger’s performance can also be affected by the addition of fins or corrugations in one or both directions, which increase surface area and may channel fluid flow or induce turbulence.

In a cross-flow heat exchanger (at left), the fluids travel roughly perpendicular to one another through the exchanger.

The driving temperature across the heat transfer surface varies with position, but an appropriate mean temperature can be defined. In most simple systems this is the “log mean temperature difference” (LMTD). Sometimes direct knowledge of the LMTD is not available and the NTU (Number of Transfer Units) method is used.

If you would like more information about our Bendel heat exchanger design and fabricating program, please call us at 866-596-5112 or contact  Vince Petrucci or Vivek Patel at Bendel.

 

Technorati Tags: heat exchanger fabrication,heat exchanger fabricator,parallel flow shell & tube heat exchanger fabricator,cross flow shell & tube heat exchanger fabricator,counter flow shell & tube heat exchanger fabricator,NC heat exchanger fabricator,SC heat exchanger fabricator,GA heat exchanger fabricator

Heat Exchanger Fouling Can be a Nightmare Maintenance Issue with Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers!

Fouling occurs when a fluid goes through the heat exchanger, and the impurities in the fluid precipitate onto the surface of the tubes. Precipitation of these impurities can be caused by:

• Frequent use of the heat exchanger
• Not cleaning the heat exchanger regularly
• Reducing the velocity of the fluids moving through the heat exchanger
• Over-sizing of the heat exchanger

Effects of fouling are more abundant in the cold tubes of the heat exchanger than in the hot tubes. This is because impurities are less likely to be dissolved in a cold fluid, because for most substances, solubility increases as temperature increases. A notable exception is hard water where the opposite is true.

Fouling reduces the cross sectional area for heat to be transferred and causes an increase in the resistance to heat transfer across the heat exchanger. This is because the thermal conductivity of the fouling layer is low. This reduces the overall heat transfer coefficient and efficiency of the heat exchanger. This in turn, can lead to an increase in pumping and maintenance costs.

The conventional approach to fouling control combines the “blind” application of biocides and anti-scale chemicals with periodic lab testing. This often results in the excessive use of chemicals with the inherent side effects of accelerating system corrosion and increasing toxic waste – not to mention the cost of unnecessary treatments. There are however solutions for continuous fouling monitoring in liquid environments with sensors measuring both fouling thickness and temperature, allowing cleaning effectiveness to be monitored and chemical usage to be minimized.

If you would like more information about our Bendel heat exchanger design and fabricating program, please call us at 866-596-5112 or contact  Vince Petrucci or Vivek Patel at Bendel.  www.bendelcorp.com

 

Technorati Tags: heat exchanger fabrication,heat exchanger fouling,heat exchanger manufacturing,heat exchanger maintenance,heat exchanger design

U-tube Heat Exchanger Design and Fabrication from Bendel Corporation

There are several different types of shell and tube heat exchangers that Bendel designs and fabricates for clients of varying types for varying uses!  The U-tube heat exchanger is a multi-use heat exchanger that many of our clients use in their various manufacturing processes.

A shell and tube heat exchanger is a class of heat exchanger designs. It is the most common type of heat exchanger in oil refineries and other large chemical processes, and is suited for higher-pressure applications. As its name implies, this type of heat exchanger consists of a shell (a large pressure vessel) with a bundle of tubes inside it. One fluid runs through the tubes, and another fluid flows over the tubes (through the shell) to transfer heat between the two fluids. The set of tubes is called a tube bundle, and may be composed by several types of tubes: plain, longitudinally finned, etc.

Two fluids, of different starting temperatures, flow through the heat exchanger. One flows through the tubes (the tube side) and the other flows outside the tubes but inside the shell (the shell side). Heat is transferred from one fluid to the other through the tube walls, either from tube side to shell side or vice verse. The fluids can be either liquids or gases on either the shell or the tube side. In order to transfer heat efficiently, a large heat transfer area should be used, leading to the use of many tubes. In this way, waste heat can be put to use. This is an efficient way to conserve energy.

Heat exchangers with only one phase (liquid or gas) on each side can be called one-phase or single-phase heat exchangers. Two-phase heat exchangers can be used to heat a liquid to boil it into a gas (vapor), sometimes called boilers, or cool a vapor to condense it into a liquid (called condensers), with the phase change usually occurring on the shell side. Boilers in steam engine locomotives are typically large, usually cylindrically-shaped shell-and-tube heat exchangers. In large power plants with steam-driven turbines, shell-and-tube surface condensers are used to condense the exhaust steam exiting the turbine into condensate water which is recycled back to be turned into steam in the steam generator.

There can be many variations on the shell and tube design. Typically, the ends of each tube are connected to plenums (sometimes called water boxes) through holes in tubesheets. The tubes may be straight or bent in the shape of a U, called U-tubes.

If you would like more information about our Bendel heat exchanger design and fabricating program, please call us at 866-596-5112 or contact  Vince Petrucci or Vivek Patel at Bendel.

 

Technorati Tags: heat exchanger fabrication,heat exchanger design,shell and tube heat exchanger fabrication,bendel heat exchanger,oil refinery heat exchanger,chemical process heat exchanger

Pressure Vessel Fabricators – The Science Behind Pressure Vessels

We received some great comments and feedback from our article on the “science behind Heat Exchangers” that we posted on our blog a week ago…so we’re going to discuss about the “science behind pressure vessels” this week!

A sealed container that is intended to hold liquids or gases at a different pressure from the atmosphere around it is known as a pressure vessel. Contemporary boiler pressure vessels are typically composed of steel. Older boiler vessels were composed of wrought iron, copper or cast iron, and held together by rivets.

All Bendel Pressure Vessels and Reactors are designed and fabricated in strict accordance with ASME (Section VIII, Division I). ASME vessels can be fabricated from Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel or Nickel Alloy materials.

Boiler pressure vessels, if punctured or flawed, can cause serious and even fatal accidents. This is a result of the difference in the pressure levels between the substance inside the container and the substance outside the container. If breached, the danger lies in the reaction, as the substance inside the container regulates to the same pressure as the atmosphere outside the vessel.

If the substance inside is compressed, and stored at a higher pressure than the air outside, the substance will rush outwards if the vessel is punctured, creating an explosion. If the substance inside is at a lower pressure, it will create a suction effect if punctured. Pressurized containers can also create explosions if exposed to excessive heat, or other adverse conditions.

As a result of these hazards, extensive laws govern pressure vessels. The laws that regulate pressure vessels are carefully enforced by engineering authorities for the safety of operators, as well as the general public. These laws regulate the design and manufacture, as well as the operation, of pressure vessels.

Boiler pressure vessels are used to produce power by creating and utilizing the energy provided by the creation of pressurized steam. In order to create this reaction, a source of heat is applied to the boiler. The boiler is kept partially filled with water. As the water evaporates and becomes steam, pressure within the boiler vessel rises. The highly heated and pressurized steam provides energy for a number of applications, including early locomotive trains and steam ships.

If you would like to know more information about our Bendel pressure vessels, please call us at 866.596.5112!

Technorati Tags: pressure vessel fabricators,pressure vessel manufacturers,pressure vessel stainless steel,pressure vessel Bendel

Bendel Supports the ASME Vancouver 2010 Engineer's Conference on Including Clean Fuel and Green Fuels!

Bendel Corporation supports the ASME and their wonderful efforts of promoting clean energy as industrial nations look for ways to become more energy efficient, engineers and technology leaders will convene in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to discuss topics related to climate change, sustainable processes, alternative energy and fuel cell technology during proceedings of the 2010 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Nov. 12-18.

Set against the backdrop of one of the world’s greenest and most energy efficient urban centers, the ASME Congress will gather engineers and scientists at the Vancouver Convention and Exposition Centre to assess new advances in energy production and utilization and the role of these technologies in pollution control and environmental sustainability.

The ASME Congress, the Society’s largest technical conference, will devote a full track of technical presentations focused on energy systems and sustainability. Sixteen technical sessions in the track will cover the state of the art in engineering research and applications and feature presenters from leading academic institutions, corporations and engineering consulting firms.

Topics will include hydrogen energy, solar and wind power, bio-fuels, energy conversion, and emerging technologies.

In addition, the 2010 Congress will include a tour of the Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) and National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI) at the University of British Columbia. Both organizations lead research in clean energy technology, with NRC-IFCI focused on building collaborations with Canadian universities, companies, and government agencies to promote the growing hydrogen and fuel cell businesses.

In addition to energy, the multidisciplinary technical program of the ASME Congress will address the latest advancements in aerospace technology, manufacturing, dynamic systems, safety engineering, and transportation, among other subjects.

The seven-day conference also will include an exposition and poster session featuring advanced research and applications in micro devices and nanotechnology. A highlight of the Congress will be the ASME Honors Assembly, “A Celebration of Engineering,” a tribute to distinguished service and outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering.

About Bendel

Bendel specializes in the design and shop fabrication of Pressure Vessels, Reactors, Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers and Storage Tanks up to 75,000 gallons. Our custom fabricated products are built to nationally recognized standards which include UL, NFPA, API, ASME & TEMA and are available in Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel and Nickel Alloy materials of construction.

We serve the Chemical, Petrochemical, Pulp & Paper, Textile, Paint, Water/Wastewater Treatment, and Pharmaceuticalmarketsto name a few.

About ASME

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.

(Source for article: ASME, August 2010)