Smith & Burgess' Blog

Did you know, OSHA does not allow block valves on the inlet of relief valves installed on air receivers in compressed air systems?

OSHA CFR 1910.169(b)(3)(ii) states, “No valve of any type shall be placed between the air receiver and its safety valve or valves.”

Did you know, relief devices that protect process pipe may be set to open above the piping design pressure?

Per ASME B31.3-2016, Sections 322.6.3. (see Figure 1) and 302.2.4 (f) (see Figure 2), a thermal relief valve may be set up to 120% of the design pressure of the protected system with the owner’s approval, as long as, the allowable accumulation criteria in 302.2.4.(f) are met. Set pressures lower than 120% of the design pressure may be required depending on the allowable accumulation pressures in 302.2.4 (f).

"Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers."

As we enter 2020, most of us have already taken a moment to reflect on last year's successes and failures. (At least on a personal level.) A somewhat painful and unavoidable exercise to help guide your decisions in the upcoming year.

However, how many have taken stock of our past decade's personal successes and failures?

If you haven't, quickly give it a shot right now.

Establishing and maintaining an effective safety culture is a symphony of challenges and moving pieces.

Too often, those responsible engineers are stretched thin with competing priorities. Smith & Burgess is here to help. Our culmination of Process Safety knowledge enables us to quickly provide our clients with practical solutions that lead to compliance, significant cost-savings, and of course, peak facility safety.

Did you know, When performing a flare header analysis, it is not uncommon to find pressure vessels that ride on the flare, i.e. they have an open path to the flare header?

These vessels are often degassing drums, maintenance knock out drums, or other similar equipment. While there are practically never any relief loads from these equipment contributing to the global scenarios we typically evaluate, it is still important to ensure that the pressure in the drum does not exceed the code allowable accumulation.

Did you know, under certain circumstances, you need to verify if the Cold Differential Test Pressure (CDTP) is properly compensated for the superimposed backpressure from the flare header?

Have you come across a conventional pressure relief valve relieving to a flare header? Did you know that, under certain circumstances, you need to verify if the Cold Differential Test Pressure (CDTP) is properly compensated for the superimposed backpressure from the flare header?