TEMA Type Heat Exchangers…

I have heard through the rumor mill that there are many companies that are waiting 6, 9, 12, and up to 18 months for TEMA type heat exchangers.  Not our customers!  Precision has built hundreds upon hundreds of TEMA Type heat exchangers for various processing plants through the years.  There are certainly tricks to building good quality heat exchangers (we believe our are as good or better than industry leaders) but all in all they are not too difficult to build.  Because there is nothing secret to the sauce, I cannot say I understand why a project manager or engineering firm would be willing to wait that long for a heat exchanger.

Precision Pipe has provided dozens HTRI designed, ASME certified, TEMA type heat exchangers to a variety of installations this year alone.  We keep hearing a common theme when we receive new purchase orders, “how does Precision Pipe build these so quickly”?  Really I’m not sure why it takes other’s so long, but I guess our advantage is that we are a custom fabrication shop with ASME Code stamps.   This means we don’t sell all of our capacity on a particular engineered product.  Rather, we respond to the needs of our clients by building vessels, components, complete turn key skid packages, tanks, and TEMA type heat exchangers.  We do have a few tricks we have learned since we built our first exchangers in the 1970’s but it isn’t anything magical… just a few tricks of the trade.

If you need high quality engineered Heat Exchangers don’t stand in line months upon months waiting.  Don’t believe for one second that you need a shop that only builds exchangers for a high quality product.  Shop around and see if you can find a shop that is eager to earn your business and can provide you with the same quality or better, HTRI designed, ASME certified, TEMA type heat exchanger(s).  Our turn around time is measured in weeks not months!

http://www.Precision-Pipe.com 

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The year of the NGL

So far 2013 has been all about NGL (Natural Gas Liquids) processing equipment.  Because Precision Pipe has been building process equipment for NGL for over 30 years 2013 has proven to be a very busy year.  In addition, our clients (new and old) are looking for expertise in the field of gas processing equipment design and fabrication.  We have nearly completed fabrication on our 2 NGL process plants this year and we have a 3rd plant on order.  These plants have been turnkey units with fully integrated controls and electrical.  We are still building 1 off pressure vessels and various TEMA type heat exchangers but skid packages seem to be whats driving our markets.

Precision Pipe, LLC Gas processing plants

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33 Years and Going Strong!

Since 1980 Precision has built its business by designing and building gas processing plants, chemical and processing plant components, and skid packaged equipment including, tanks, HRSG, boilers, re-boilers, compressors, separators, heat exchangers, filtration systems, dehydration, and dew point control for natural gas processing facilities. Precision has also built several catalytic reactors for specialized applications, slug catchers, pulsation bottles, scrubbers, oxygen service vessels, flow meters, gas valve trains, accumulators, and complete skid packages.

Precision provides it’s customers with consulting, design, engineering, and ASME calculations. Precision can also provide in shop and mobile ASME vessel repairs and rerates, hydro testing, machining, welding (including ASME “R” stamped repairs, inspection services including borescope video inspection.

Most importantly, Precision is commercially distinguished as a business that offers it’s clients much more than a typical fabrication and welding shop.  Precision has built a reputation and is known to provide resources and knowhow for sustainable advantages in technology and project development. Precision uses it’s decades of experience and knowhow to offer value added solutions to our clients projects and fabrication needs.  This often saves time and money on projects and prototyping that bring long term value to our clients.

In 2013, Precision will continue our 33 year history building processing plants and equipment with a focus on natural gas processing. The biggest difference is our new, state of the art, 40,000 Square foot fabrication facilities. If you have a project and you need an experienced, knowledgable, and well qualified manufacturer please allow us the privilege to provide your company with a competitive quote.

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Safety Message: Without Safeguards, Pressure Vessels Can Be Deadly

 A fantastic Article found on: http://www.csb.gov/newsroom/detail.aspx?nid=293

November 09, 2009

Without appropriate safeguards, pressure vessels can pose lethal dangers.

Washington, DC, November 9, 2009 – CSB Chairman John Bresland released a new video safety message today asking jurisdictions across the country to adopt the ASME Pressure Vessel Code to reduce the number of accidents involving catastrophic pressure vessel failures in process industries.

The safety message can be viewed on CSB.gov and on the CSB’s safety message channel,www.youtube.com/safetymessages.

In the safety message, Chairman Bresland warned that without appropriate safeguards, pressure vessels can pose lethal dangers. Chairman Bresland said, “Pressure vessels store tremendous amounts of energy and you should never become complacent about the risks.”

Particular danger exists when vessels are improperly installed, welded, or modified, or when they lack effective pressure relief systems. Mr. Bresland refers to several incidents investigated by the CSB including an explosion at a Louisiana natural gas well that killed four workers when a tank rated only for atmospheric pressure was exposed to gas pressure up to 800 pounds per square inch.

In April 2003, an 8-foot tank used to heat sugar caramel exploded when the vent line became blocked, killing an overnight operator, releasing large amounts of ammonia, and forcing a community evacuation. The vessel had no pressure-relief system.

Additionally, in 2004 a pressure vessel weighing 50,000-pounds exploded at a chemical plant in Houston, Texas, throwing heavy fragments into the community, which damaged a church and businesses.  The CSB found that the company improperly modified and welded the vessel.

Chairman Bresland stated that these accidents can be avoided if states implement long-established codes for safe use. He said, “There are only eleven states that do not require companies to follow the Pressure Vessel Code of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). I ask all jurisdictions to adopt the Pressure Vessel Code and related boiler standards. Lives will be saved as a result.”

The ASME Code provides the fundamental safeguards for pressure vessels, including design, welding procedures and fabrication, testing, and pressure relief. In 2006, the CSB called upon the City of Houston to adopt the Code to protect residents and industrial facilities from these incidents. However, Houston has failed to implement this recommendation despite reoccurring pressure vessel failures such as a summer of 2008 heat exchanger explosion in a resin-production facility that killed a veteran supervisor.

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.

The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.

A powerful reminder about the purpose of the ASME code and the dangers of not using a qualified and certified ASME code shop for repairs and alterations.  The nominal costs of making proper repairs to ASME pressure vessels is insignificant to the potential loss of human life. Likewise, the risk of installing non-code vessels is equally dangerous and potentially deadly.

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Depropanizer and Deethanizer Tower, Great Price Better Delivery

Since this summer Precision Pipe and Vessel, A Denver ASME welding and fabrication shop has built and delivered two 80 foot plus deethanizor and depropoanizer towers.  By all standards these are not the largest towers on the market, but are a large enough to serve a major sector in gas processing plants.  These towers were built in Denver and will be shipped all the way to Pennsylvania for their final installation.  This project was conducted with a Nationwide RFP process and it was discovered the Precision Pipe had a competitive price (even with expensive trucking costs) and even better delivery schedule.

As the gas boom seems to be gaining traction, it seems many ASME shops are becoming back logged with large vessels such as these.  Many gas processing companies turn to the same fabricators over and over again and are willing to wait months for delivery at the expense of production and revenue.  As project managers become familiar with companies they tend to turn to the same companies time and time again.  This is probably a safe bet with long established business relationships, but the petroleum is a high risk high reward kind of business.  From the early stages of drilling, installation, permitting, and well stimulation this is in all reality a high stakes business.

Any company that is seeking a competitive edge should be looking for energetic and motivated businesses qualified to provide the same products on a better delivery date (any ASME code vessel will require the same QA QC and inspection).  The cost of lost production is much more expensive than a few thousand dollars in added cost or even shipping, yet procurement specialist and project managers turn to the same companies over and over again without looking at the competitive advantage they may have by using a new vendor with better delivery times.  As dollars are wasted waiting for equipment it seems more logical to strike up new business relationships based on better delivery schedules. Give us a call and see if we can get you to revenue quicker than your go to guy, you might be surprised!

http://www.precision-pipe.com

304 Stainless deethanizer tower

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MBWA

One of my favorite things about working here at Precision is that we practice  Manage By Wandering Around.  (MBWA as Introduced by Peters/ Waterman in the book, In Search of Excellence)  While the authors were doing research for the book they interviewed HP President John Young who explained what the term meant and its importance to HP especially during times of explosive growth.  Reflecting back on the concept of MBWA and first learning of its meaning Peter’s writes, “MBWA … Managing By Wandering Around … quickly became our favorite “excellence” idea! Technically, it meant staying in direct touch (damn the bureaucracy!) with the folks who do the work. Metaphorically, it stood for all/much of what was wrong with American management—McKinsey & Harvard Business School-style—as we confronted the Japanese challenge in areas such as product quality. That is, “big business” had become an abstraction. It was a “by the numbers” affair, where front-line “personnel” were pretty much interchangeable parts in a well-oiled “machine” and where “strategy” was considered far more important than primitive ideas such as quality and service and turned-on folks. Of course by then the bearings had lost most of their oil and seized up!”

Ok, I know what you are thinking and you are right, we’re not a giganto conglomerate that has thousands of people working for us at multiple locations!  Yes, this is true, but what is even truer is that on a daily basis small companies must fight against losing their nimbleness, effectiveness, and..well, their human touch.  We believe in measurement and standards, but not at the expense of losing touch and becoming irrelevant.  We believe in knowing our employees, not intrusively, but in such a way that they know they are a valuable member of our team.  We believe in getting out of our offices and wandering around.

Nobody in our company does this better than our President, who regularly practices MBWA and often times finds himself in the middle of lending a hand to one of our employees.  (And on occasion our customers)  There is no substitute for MBWA; it is the lighthouse that steers the small business away from the shoreline of irrelevancy that it is headed for.  Engage in MWBA today…seriously, get up and go wander!

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ASME Stainless Steel Welding Procedure

An interesting project has come to our shop that is leading to a new welding procedure. The project is a simple stainless steel pressure vessel, 6” diameter pipe, 0.432” wall approximately 18” long. While this seems overly simple it has led me to investigate the welding options we have qualified for stainless in our shop. We have stainless hardwire, flux core, stick, and TIG procedures but which one to use? Flux core fills very fast, hardwire is clean and neat, TIG has an artistic look when done right but is slower then hardwire and flux core. Stick welding is smoky and unless the welder is REALLY good it just doesn’t look as nice as the others. I’m beginning to think multiple processes. If we hardwire the root then no backing gas is required (meaning we don’t have to purge the inside of the vessel to remove any oxygen exposure on the back side of the weld) then we can fill the majority of the weld joint with either spray arc hardwire or flux core and finish with TIG. We get a solid, quick welded joint that looks like art! But I don’t have a weld procedure that includes three different welding processes. Do I need to break out some stainless steel scrap and weld up a coupon using the three selected processes and have it tested? Conveniently, I do not. Because I have Procedure Qualification Reports (PQR’s) for all three processes I can write a new procedure using the existing PQR’s. I can take the information from each PQR and implement a new procedure that includes all three processes. Each process must be noted on the new weld procedure and the essential variables must also be noted. One other item to be sure to review, the thickness of the additive PQR’s must yield the thickness range required for the intended joint. Maintaining documentation of all our welding processes and procedures makes this an easy accomplishment, an accomplishment that allows us to utilize our knowledge and history to go forward. If you like the way a certain welding process looks but have been told it costs too much or takes too much time, give us a call. We’ll help you find a happy medium that yields beautiful welding and cost effectiveness.

TIG Cover Pass

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2010 Lessons Learned?

New Year, new beginnings- same results?  That is not so bad when the last year was successful – or is it?

Recently, I have noticed that I am currently NOT doing much in the way of self-improvement other than maintaining the successful practices I have adopted last year.  On the surface this seems benign – after all, if it’s working, why change?  I can’t help but think…..what if?  What if I can add or tweak some of those successful things 2-5% for the better?  Wouldn’t that be worth the time investment to enhance what I do well? Certainly.

In business, we often focus our attention on our defects over the past year and give our organization the same old pep talk involving words such as, “We cannot continue…and/or Knock it off.”  This exercise is well worth the time and effort.  Making efforts NOT to repeat mistakes is always a worthwhile endeavor especially when your competency and reputation is on the line.  What about the things you do well?  Does your organization look to improve upon the good things that you do, even if it is “just” a 2-5% improvement.  (Example:  If your organization is good at turning quotes around what if you improved it by a couple of hours?  Soon, those hours – turn into day(s).)

Sometimes the smallest of efforts to improve what you do well can pay the biggest dividends.

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Power, Fuel, Gas…

I once had a friend that ask me how I could possibly make a living by making pressure vessels, implying there can’t be any demand for such products.  From an outsiders view he didn’t really know what a pressure vessel was or what it really did. I was amused by his comment because I knowingly realize that Pressure Vessel’s certainly lack any kind understanding by the general public, but the need, and application for pressure vessels is certainly in high demand.  I imagine most people must think this is really a quirky business but don’t really know what pressure vessels are, what they are used for, and how their application is important to our daily lives.  As long as there is a need for petroleum products, natural gas, heat, and cooling there are a network of pressure vessels that are necessary to keep our infrastructure safe and operational.  Likewise, pressure vessels are used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, breweries (yeah beer), food processing, water treatment, and countless other applications that enhance our daily lives. In fact, any component, piping, or tank that is designed to hold 15 psi or more is subject the guidelines and compliance of the ASME code for boilers and pressure vessels.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has set the standards for pressure vessel design and manufacturing that has enabled our country’s infrastructure to become a complex and vast network.  While this is nothing short of a modern marvel it is truly remarkable how the ASME guidelines have kept workers and the public safe from the explosive high pressure gases.  In fact, the ASME standards have proven to be completely effective as long as the code is followed by everyone who has ASME certified components.

Likewise, it is scary to hear about explosions, fires, and other catastrophic events in the oil and gas industry as well as commercial boilers.  These failures almost always occur when an operator of the equipment is either too lazy to follow code or is ignorant about the effects of not following ASME guidelines.  Recently, I heard about a repair on a Government owned and operated boiler (in an ASME compliant state) that had overlooked using an ASME qualified shop for more than an decade.  This repair required an “S” stamp to perform the work, but upon inspection there had been no less than ten previous repairs performed by a non-qualified company.  This was alarming for a few reasons.  First, the state was failing to oblige by their own guidelines.  This was a public hazard and a huge liability for the State, the licensed boiler operator, and for the welder who did the repairs.  It is imperative to any repair on an ASME component (boiler, pressure vessel, heat exchanger)  that such repairs are performed by a certified welder by a qualified shop.  In other words, the company performing such repairs, at a minimum, must have a National Board “R” stamp in good standing.  Further, the repairs must be performed in compliance of the applicable code as designated by the ASME and NBIC code guidelines.  It is alarming to see States that designate compliance to code construction fail to recognize the necessary steps to keep their own equipment in compliance.

What does this mean to the average person? Not much to be truthful. However, to anyone that has process equipment it is absolutely imperative to recognize the importance code compliance has on the safety of those aruond us.

The 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.

Therefore, the next time you fire up your gas grill (you can verify your propane tank is ASME / NBIC certified) remember that countless hours of engineering, design, review, materials and code compliance, nondestructive testing, and third party inspection have gone into keeping you and your loved ones safe, even if you don’t know what a pressure vessel is.

http://www.Precision-Pipe.com

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Repairs of ASME Pressure Vessels

Tonight we have the opportunity to go into a major sporting arena and perform a weld repair on a pressure vessel. After being in the pressure vessel industry for almost 12 years I sometimes forget that not everyone understands what is involved in this type of undertaking. The repair itself is very simple. The unit has been in service for the last fourteen years and after years of vibration a pinhole or crack has promulgated through the heat effected zone around one of the welds. So the repair will consist of grinding out the defect and welding in new material. Simple enough. It’s the paperwork side of things that most people are not familiar with. ASME does not actually have a “Code” for the repair of Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessels. Repairs fall under the Nation Board of Inspectors Code (NBIC). The National Board is the agency that contends with the requirements for repairs and alterations. The following list is typical of the process for a repair:

• Investigate the repair that is required
• Procure or purchase a copy of the original U1-A report from either the manufacturer or The National Board
• Review the original U1-A to verify materials of construction, Fabrication requirements, Examination requirements, and Testing requirements
• Prepare a repair plan that includes a field traveler with hold points for the Authorized Inspector (AI)
  • Identify the weld procedure to be used
  • Identify the welder to be used and verify his/her qualifications
  • Prepare any drawings, calculations, and or engineering data
  • Procure and review documentation of any new material that must be utilized
  • Specify and non-destructive testing that is required
  • Specify any final inspection requirements
  • Specify any Post Weld Heat Treat requirements
  • Specify the type and range of any pressure test that is required
  • Prepare a nameplate
  • Prepare applicable R Form
  • All of the above information must be available for the AI to review
  • Perform the repair as stated in the repair plan
  • Perform testing as required by the NBIC
  • Sign off on the appropriate documentation

As you can see there is more to a “Code” repair the simply fixing the weld. Depending on the vessel the testing portion of the repair plan may take a substantial amount of time. Keep all of these items in mind when you call a company asking that a repair be made the same day as same day service tends to cost a little more. Here at Precision Pipe we jump at these opportunities to start new relationships that hopefully last a life time.

 

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