Recently in this space, we dug into some of the important basics associated with two vital code standards for the process heating equipment world: ASME code and API code. These standards are used to help maintain safety and efficiency throughout numerous process heating systems and applications, important areas for a field that can pose dangers if the right precautions are not taken.
At Gordo Sales, we’re proud to offer numerous pieces of process heating equipment that meet and even exceed important safety codes, from component heaters to mercury relays, radiant heaters and much more. In today’s blog, we’ll get a bit more specific: Beyond their basic definitions and the fact that they’re often built into local and state laws for process heating areas, why are these codes important and where do they provide practical value for you?
To understand why ASME code (short, again, for American Society of Mechanical Engineers) is so important and how it came to be, you have to look back in history just over a century. In the early 1900s, two massive boiler explosions took place in Massachusetts factories, tragic but seminal events in the process heating world.
From here, ASME’s Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) was established almost right away. Its primary goal was to create guidelines to help make steam boilers and other engineering equipment safer, and it established several specific guidelines while doing so.
And while ASME code has never lost this commitment to safety first and foremost, over time it has also developed into a quality-control standard as well. Industrial heaters and boiler systems that have the ASME stamp have always gone through rigorous inspection, meeting the BPVC code in the process. Anyone who purchases these items can rest easy knowing they’re paying for quality equipment that’s been checked off in several of the most important areas.
API code, on the other hand, stands for American Petroleum Institute and relates more directly to natural gas and oil standards. We noted above that many of these guidelines have been actually rolled into local or state laws – this is particularly true for API code, where even some federal regulations have been altered based on these standards.
The primary value and importance of API code is not difficult to ascertain: Safety is even more vital in any industry using high-powered heating equipment involving combustible gasses, and API code ensures it’s met. Not only does it include equipment specifications for various parts of the industry, it also puts forth several safe operating practices and highly encourages their promotion to ensure all operators are using machinery safely.
For more on why ASME and API code are important and how they add value to your process heating equipment and processes, or to learn about any of our industrial heating systems, speak to the staff at Gordo Sales today.
