Your first stop when considering process piping design and piping systems should be the ASME B31.3 Code. It contains requirements for piping typically found in petroleum refineries; chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, paper, semiconductor and cryogenic plants; and related processing plants and terminals.

The code prescribes requirements for materials and components, design, fabrication, assembly, erection, examination, inspection, and testing of piping. It applies to piping for all fluids including:

• Raw, intermediate, and finished chemicals
• Petroleum products
• Gas, steam, air and water
• Fluidized solids
• Refrigerants
• Cryogenic fluids

Also included is piping which interconnects pieces or stages within a packaged equipment assembly.

Attend the course
The lack of commentary or historical perspective regarding the B31.3 Code requirements for process piping design and construction is an obstacle to the designer, manufacturer, fabricator, supplier, erector, examiner, inspector or owner who wants to provide a safe and economical piping system. The intensive four-day B31.3 Process Piping Design course is designed to meet this need.

The B31.3 Process Piping Design course takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark, 14- 17 September 2009. It covers the application of the B31.3 Code and explains how piping systems fail and what you need to do to prevent such failures. It is targeted at piping engineers, project managers and engineers, facilities engineers, reliability specialists, design engineers and plant engineers.

During this course you will learn:

• Considerations of design, pressure design of piping and piping components
• Piping flexibility analysis
• Limitations of piping and piping components
• Pipe supports, leak testing, piping failures and their causes

The course is given by Glynn E. Woods, P.E., who is a practicing Piping Engineer with experience in piping design, stress analysis, supports, piping failure analysis, as well as piping component design, analysis and testing. For more than 35 years he has been providing this piping design expertise in new and operating petrochemical facilities. Mr. Woods is a member of the ASME B31.3 Process Piping Code Committee.

To register, click here

1884 was a year of firsts. The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published. The eight-hour workday was first proclaimed. 1 May was declared as the first Labour Day. And ASME published the first ever performance test code – the Code for the Conduct of Trials of Steam Boilers.

That first ASME Code appeared at an opportune time, when industrial activity and mechanical engineering invention and ingenuity was booming, particularly in the areas of transportation and factory-based mass production. Despite the many benefits and opportunities brought by industrialisation, including greater economic wealth and increased access to goods, there were problems. Industrial development in those years progressed at a frenetic pace, with little consideration of uniform engineering practices or public safety.

For example, at ASME’s first annual meeting, the comment was made that “sizes in screw threads are infinite and the number of threads to each size are infinite too.” The importance of standards for screw threads was brought to public attention when a fire erupted in Baltimore. As buildings became engulfed in flames, firefighting units summoned from other towns to assist could only watch helplessly, because their hose couplings would not fit the Baltimore hydrants. A good start was ASME’s 1887 Standard for the Diameter and Overall Dimensions of Pipe and Its Threaded Ends.

The start of the 20th century saw huge growth in the use of cranes and other types of mechanical lifting equipment – in line with the growth in freight railroading and shipping. Guidelines for the safe design and operation of cranes were not yet in place, and the high incidence of injuries to dockworkers, railway workers and factory workers was of great concern.

ASME came to the rescue in 1916, with its Code of Safety Standards for Cranes. ASME also helped coordinate the input of 29 national organisations with a vested interest in crane safety. The effort led to the Safety Code for Cranes, Derricks and Hoists, which gained national acceptance in 1943.

As with boilers and cranes before ASME addressed them, little regulation and few design and operating guidelines existed to ensure safety in elevators. In 1921 ASME issued its Safety Code for Elevators, containing safety provisions for switches, door locking mechanisms and speed.

The arrival of nuclear energy after World War II was another significant challenge for ASME. In 1954 the first nuclear-powered vessel, the submarine USS Nautilus, was launched. Only two years later the first commercial nuclear power plant began operating – Calder Hall in the UK. ASME realised that great care would have to be invested in the design of nuclear equipment, and also that a high level of training and skill would be required of plant operators to identify and respond to possible failure and malfunction.

ASME responded with Section III of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Rules for the Construction of Nuclear Power Plant Components. It addressed materials, design and construction of components that would stand up to the high pressures and temperatures in a nuclear power plant.

These are just a few of the outstanding milestones in ASME’s 125-year history of creating Codes and Standards. Today ASME publishes nearly 500 Codes and Standards that cover a wide range of engineered products and processes, including boilers, pressure vessels, nuclear power plant components, elevators, escalators, hand tools, fasteners, machine tools, plumbing fixtures, cranes, and transport tanks. There are more than 5,000 ASME certified manufacturers, 50 percent of which are outside the United States.

The efforts to develop, revise and maintain these standards are supported by 700 technical and supervisory committees with over 4,000 volunteers and staff members. There are an average of more than 800 face-to-face committee meetings held annually, and an untold number of telephone and Web conferences among volunteer committee members. ASME’s codes and standards are adopted, referenced and recognised in more than 100 countries.

Moreover, ASME shows no sign of easing off! During the next three years, ASME Codes and Standards has no fewer than 25 first-time products slated for development, including standards, education and training programmes, and certification programmes.

Making a better world includes the making of standards; ASME Codes and Standards is proud to be a part of this endeavour.

CONTRIBUTE!
This section of the ASME EMEA eUpdate is open for your comments, news and issues on the use and implementation of the ASME Codes and Standards in the EMEA region. Write a short one to two paragraphs of a maximum of 200 words answering the question: "How have you been implementing the ASME Codes and Standards, and which ones? How has it made a difference?"

This could be an excellent opportunity for you or your company / organisation to share your experience / success stories with over 27.000 mechanical engineering professionals in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Please also enclose your photo, company logo or a company photo (jpg format, high resolution if possible). Send it to fortesc@asme.org

ASME continuously strives for the best services and products for its members and users catering to their needs and requests. Recently, the ASME Continuing Education Institute (CEI) joined the ASME Standards and Certification department.
To ensure that its new scope and products are widely understood, ASME CEI is now called ASME Training & Development. Please visit our new update website at: http://www.asme.org/Education/Europe/

Hotel: Copenhagen Island, Kalvebod Brygge 53, 1560 Copenhagen V, www.copenhagenisland.dk
Venue: Ingeniørforeningen IDA, Kalvebod Brygge 31-33, 1780 Copenhagen V, www.ida.dk

Courses

• PD014 B31.3 Process Piping Design
• PD184 Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code: Section III, Division 1: Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility Components
• PD389 Non-Destructive Examination - Applying ASME Code Requirements (Section V)
• PD401 The Layout of Piping Systems and Process Equipment
• PD441 Inspection, Repairs and Alterations of Pressure Vessels
• PD442 Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code: Section VIII, Division 1: Design & Fabrication of Pressure Vessels
• PD443 Course Combo:
  Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code: Section VIII, Division 1: Design & Fabrication of Pressure Vessels + Inspection, Repairs and Alterations of Pressure Vessels
• PD570 Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing Fundamentals

Take back to Your job

• The background and requirements of the different Codes
• How to apply Code rules
• The requirements for the Code

In Partnership with ALITUR (Associazione dei Laureati in Ingegneria di Tor Vergata, Università di Roma); BSMEE (Belgian Society of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering); Coordinamento Mecanica; DMS (Danish Society of Mechanical Engineers); FABI (La Maison de l'Ingénieur); SNE (Spanish Nuclear Society).

Upcoming Courses
Don’t miss the upcoming educational opportunities in Europe to gain the necessary know-how and expertise to advance in your career!

Other Educational Activities
ASME organises a variety of educational activities worldwide. Check the upcoming dates and locations and further your knowledge and ensure the next steps in your professional future.

ASME EMEA Events Calendar
See all the events in EMEA and select the event you want to attend.

ASME EMEA Events

The International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE) is the premier global conference for addressing the needs of the nuclear industry. The conference will take place July 12-16, 2009 and will be held at the Sheraton Brussels Hotel.

Topics are divided into 15 tracks:

• Plant Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Modifications and Life Cycle
• Component Reliability and Materials Issues
• Structural Integrity
• Advanced Applications of Nuclear Technology
• Next Generation Systems
• Safety and Security
• Codes, Standards, Licensing and Regulatory Issues
• Fuel Cycle and High & Low Level Waste Management and Decommissioning
• Balance of Plant for Nuclear Applications
• Thermal Hydraulics
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Neutronics Methods and Coupled Codes
• Current Advanced Reactors – Plant Designs, Construction, Workforce and Public Acceptance
• Instrumentation & Controls (I&C)
• Student Paper Competition
• Nuclear Industry Forum - Panel Sessions on Current Topics

For more information and to register: http://www.asmeconferences.org/icone17/

This major event on the ASME calendar provides participants with opportunities to further their knowledge base by being exposed to, and exchange opinions and ideas on, different topics related to Pressure Vessel and Piping technologies for the power and process Industries.

The conference’s Technical Programme contains over 600 technical papers organised into more than 150 technical and panel discussion sessions, tutorials, and the Student Paper Symposium and Competition. The NDE and Software Demonstration forums are organised as part of the technical programme. Technical papers presented at the conference will be published in the form of a CD ROM.

Topics covered in the main programme include codes and standards; computer technology and bolted joints; design and analysis; fluid-structure interaction; high pressure technology; materials and fabrication; operations, applications and components; seismic engineering; non destructive examination; and nanotechnology.

For more information and to register: http://www.asmeconferences.org/pvp09/

During the weekend of 26 and 27 June, the District H Operational Board met in order to define goals and set the strategy for the coming three years. The location chosen for the Board meeting was charming Nice, France, the home town of the new District H Leader, Bernard Gindroz.

To kick off the meetings, the Board met over dinner on Friday, 26 June.  This allowed the Board members to discuss many of the issues that needed decisions during the DH Operational Board meeting the next day.

Among the main topics, the DH Operational Board discussed ESDA 2010, the ECC (ESDA Conference Committee), young engineers and sections activities.

The priorities of the new District H strategy are as follows:

1. Create a strong image of mechanical engineering and support the development of the profession.
2. Enhance communications between our members, sections and volunteers, facilitate the development of the sections and increase the value of the membership in District H.
3. Organise the volunteer leadership for national coordination; create ASME Sections and groups to grow the outreach of ASME in Europe.
4. Optimise the role of the Europe office for serving members, volunteers and users of ASME services. The Europe office is a resource for the operations in District H supporting the volunteers with logistics, communication and positioning.
5. Motivate students and young engineers to get involved in ASME.
6. Enhance the number of History & Heritage activities organised by the sections, looking into activities that show the importance of mechanical engineering in history as a way to engage more members.

District H Leader Flavio Franco has stepped down and Bernard Gindroz officially assumed the leadership of District H on 1 July 2009. Drawing from Flavio's great experience, and combining with Bernard's fresh ideas, the Board agreed on the above goals and strategy. For the implementation phase, the Board and sections will be assisted by the ASME Europe Office.

Tom Wendt, representing ASME Headquarters, also took part in the debate, and shared crucial knowledge and experience to further support the strategic planning of DH.

The combined knowledge, expertise and leadership from the volunteer leaders, ASME Headquarters and the Europe office, assured the success of the meeting and the relevance of the discussions. Adding to a very well organised Board meeting in a beautiful location, the meeting was highlighted by the presentation of an award offered by Flavio Franco to Board members Hans Wettstein and Memis Acar for their outstanding commitment and support to the development of District H.

The Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Winterthur, in cooperation with ASME Europe, will host the one-day Blade Mechanics Seminar on 2 September, 2009. The Seminar will be a discussion forum for engineers interested in current technical issues of blade mechanics.

The Blade Mechanics Seminar aims at offering a platform for know-how and experience exchange among engineers from various turbomachinery companies. It will also answer the participants’ needs coming from their daily work on axial and radial bladed discs. All presentations will be given in common engineering terms by using comprehensible mathematics.

Process Piping: The Complete Guide to ASME B31.3, Third Edition

Fully updated for the 2008 Edition of the ASME B31.3 Code, this third edition provides background information, historical perspective, and expert commentary on the ASME B31.3 Code requirements for process piping design and construction.  It provides the most complete coverage of the Code that is available today and is packed with additional information useful to those responsible for the design and mechanical integrity of process piping.  The author is a long-serving member, and present Chairman, of the ASME B31.3, Process Piping Code committee.

Buy Online: http://catalog.asme.org/books/PrintBook/PPG3ED_Process_Piping.cfm