Essential Books on Pressure Vessels

Below mentioned are some important literatures available on pressure vessel design and fabrication. These books can be either bought or referred online.

• Title: Process equipment Design

Authors: Lloyd E. Brownell, Edwin H. Young

• Title: Pressure Vessel Design Handbook

Author: Henry H. Bednar

• Title: Structural Analysis and Design of Process Equipment

Authors: Maan H. Jawad, James R. Farr

• Title: Design of Process Equipment (Selected Topics)

Author: Kanti K. Mahajan

• Title: Theory and Design of Pressure Vessels

Author: John F. Harvey

• Title: Pressure Vessel Design Manual

Authors: Dennis R. Moss, Michael Basic

• Title: Pressure Vessel Handbook

Author: Eugene F. Megyesy

• Title: Practical Guide to Pressure Vessel Manufacturing

Author: Sunil Pullarcot

These books would be of help for people starting out into the pressure vessel industry and also to experienced engineers. These books have be an effort of many years of hard work and industrial experience by the authors, assisting researchers and industries involved in research and development groundwork, which has been summed up in a few pages.

These books help understanding what pressure vessels are, how they are fabricated, stress theories, types of failure and so on. These will in turn help understanding how code e.g. ASME Section VIII Div 1, based design calculation were developed and their significance with respect to material selection, joint efficiency, supplementary loading conditions, corrosion allowances, factor of safety etc.

The readers are advised to go through the introduction pages of the above mentioned books to better understand whom the book is intended for and what it contains.

Introduction to Pressure Vessels

Pressure vessels in this context are pressure retaining equipments used in the oil and gas industry for different processes like distillation, heat transfer, storage etc. Pressure vessels are always designed, fabricated and tested to adhere to certain codes and standards as specified by the law of the land or considering some safety specifications by the licensor or inspecting authority for its use. If the pressure vessel adheres to all the requirements specified by the code, the vessel is stamped as fit for the operating requirements it was designed for by the inspecting authority.

This stamp of approval is often visible on the vessels nameplate e.g. pressure vessels inspected and approved by the inspecting authority for ASME Section VIII Div 1 is “U” Stamped.

(Figure above has its reference for ASME Section VIII Div 1, Fig. UG-118)

The different codes and standards followed for some countries are as mentioned below.

ASME Section VIII Div 1, 2 & 3 (Rules for construction of pressure vessels) – USA & Canada

AS 1210, Unfired Pressure Vessels and Class 1 H – Australia

Italian Pressure Vessel Code (ANCC) – Italy

PD 5500, formerly known as BS 5500 (Specifications for unfired fusion welded pressure vessel) – United Kingdom, presently replaced by EN13445 (European pressure equipment directive)

IS 2825, Code for unfired pressure vessel – India

The mostly widely recognized and used code is the ASME boiler & pressure vessel codes (BPVC) which is an ASME (American society of mechanical engineers) standard for design, fabrication and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels.