Tuesday, March 27, 2018

How Hydro Testing Saves Lives

By Daniel Miller


There many different types of pressure vessels that can require this type of test periodically to ensure its functionality and safety. A pressure vessel can include anything from plumbing, boilers, pipelines, and gas tanks. Since businesses and homes have some or many of these types of containers or systems, it is important to stay up-to-date on hydro testing.

Since the liquids or gasses inside these vessels are pressurized and often at very high or low temperatures, making sure everything is working properly with a standardized test is very important. When they were being developed, these containers and pipelines caused many deaths due to faulty design. Now they have been made much safer, and a professional test can ensure its safety.

Since one of the main goals of this test is to see if there are any leaks in the vessel occurring, it is often just called a leak test. This also provides a way to find out where the problem is happening. Hydrostatic pressure tests are also important to examine the general functionality and durability of the pressure vessel.

This test can be performed with either a liquid or a gas. Most of the time, professionals will use water so that the system won't have to be repaired or cleaned afterward. After enough of the medium has been let into the container for it to reach a specific pressure, the supply valve is shut off and the pressure gauge is watched carefully to see if it goes down at all.

The best way to tell where a leak is happening is by adding some kind of coloration to the medium being used. This is easily achieved in water with dye, which is the method many testers use. By simply following the dye and seeing where it is escaping from, sometimes a problem can be solved easily where it would've seemed like a major replacement was due.

As soon as a vessel or pipe system like this is made, it undergoes this test to make sure it is safe and up to standards before it reaches customers. Since they can also wear out or malfunction over time, it is also crucial that they are periodically reexamined by a certified professional. A proof pressure test or modified hydrostatic test is usually what they use.

Customers will often get to choose which medium they would like to use for their system's test, but professionals will most often recommend water depending on what type of pressure vessel it is. This is because water works best for most of these, and is by far the least expensive. Oil is costly, and air requires special equipment in order to set up a test for it.

It is necessary to make sure that a container will be safe even if it goes above its recommended pressure. It also brings the user peace of mind if a test has gone above and beyond the necessary capabilities. When carrying out this kind of test, the professional will usually ask for the normal working pressure of the pipe or container, then add a percentage of its pressure on for the test.




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