Miscellaneous technical articles about mechanical and electromechanical products for projects
Non-destructive test (abbreviated, NDT) used to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of a welded connection without damaging the equipment. The most common non-destructive tests are visual inspection, penetrating fluids, magnetic particles, radiographic (RX) and ultrasonic examination (UT). TYPES OF NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING In this article, we review the most common non-destructive testing techniques used to… read more »
Steel products may be manufactured either by casting or forging steel. Steel casting is the process by which a metal is heated until it reaches a liquid state and then poured into a mold that shapes the desired product. Steel forging implies the application of mechanical forces to heated solid blocks of steel (such as… read more »
The lower explosive limit (LEL) is the minimum concentration of a specific combustible gas required to fire combustion when in contact with oxygen (air). If the concentration of the gas is below the LEL value, the mix between the gas itself and the air is too weak to spark. The upper explosive limit (UEL) is the… read more »
The hydrostatic test consists of filling a piece of equipment with a fluid at test pressure, for a given period of time, to check the existence of leakages. The test is passed if the equipment bears the test pressure without any leakage. HYDROSTATIC TEST The hydrostatic test is a common procedure to test piping equipment,… read more »
Compression fittings are used to create leak-free tube connections easily and quickly. Double ferrule compression fittings feature an outer nut, two deformable ferrules in soft alloy or non-ferrous metals and, a tube fitting body and are available for metric and fractional tube sizes. When the fitting nut is screwed on the tube, the ferrules get deformed to… read more »
BWG and SWG are alternative measurements for steel tubing sizes (outside diameter and wall thickness). BWG stands for “Birmingham Wire Gauge” (or “Stubs Iron Wire Gauge”). Each BWG number (example from 10 to 22) represents a specific steel tubing thickness, which can be converted in inches or mm. SWG stands for “Standard Wire Gauge” (also… read more »
The piping material chart shows the matching ASTM materials for pipes, valves, fittings, flanges and stud bolts. PIPING MATERIALS MATCH CHART The piping ASTM materials match chart shows, for example, that an A106 Gr. A pipe matches with ASTM A234 buttweld fitting, with an ASTM A105 forged fitting, flange or valve, with an A216 WCB cast… read more »
The ASME B16.34 specification covers pressure and temperature ratings for forgings, castings, plate, bar, and tubular products. The ASME B16.34 charts show the max allowed pressure for a material depending on the product rating and the process temperature (the higher the temperature, the lower the pressure at a given rating). GROUP 1: CARBON AND ALLOY… read more »
The engineering dictionary collects the most used terms, abbreviations, and definitions used in technical and commercial documentation related to project plant construction, materials and project management. A AGA American Gas Association AISI: American Iron & Steel Institute ANSI: American National Standards Institute — Formerly ASA API American Petroleum Institute ASA: American Standard Institute — Now known as ANSI… read more »
A complete collection of the most used P&ID symbols for lines, piping, valves, instruments, pumps, compressors, pressure equipment and other mechanical equipment. WHAT IS P&ID? P&ID is the acronym for “Piping and instrumentation diagram”, i.e. a very detailed diagram showing the processes happening within a plant, the involved equipment, and their interconnections. A set of… read more »
An overview of key concepts about process instrumentation: measurement precision (a static feature that identifies the degree of agreement between the indication of the instrument and the characteristics of the measurand in measurement or monitoring), measurement uncertainty, metrological confirmation, and calibration. MEASUREMENT PRECISION By measurement precision we mean: according to ISO-IMV (International Metrology Vocabulary): “…closeness of agreement… read more »
This post illustrates the steps from the initial block and flow diagrams to achieve the final Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) diagrams required for the interpretation and governance of process plants, as well as to highlight and report on the video pages of the Distributed Control System (DCS) measurement and control loops suitable for the… read more »