Knowledge based tools for stability verification during pressure equipment life cycle

摘要

In process plants major items design, construction and operation are based on rules driven by standards and engineering codes, aimed to assure reliability and safety. These rules are aimed to assure vessel stability under required pressure and temperature condition, considering construction material. As all pressure components are nowadays designed using CAD systems, we tried to exploit the most advanced capabilities of such systems. In this paper we present a software application for the rules based design of pressure vessels. ISPESL VSR code has been selected, as the most popular in Italian industries. The application has been developed as a customization of the well-known KB-CAD system CATIA V5. The application is aimed to help both pressure equipment manufactures and inspectors.Manufacturers may design vessels, automatically complying with VSR rules. Inspectors may use equipment digital representation to check the compliance with safety rules along equipment lifetime.