Codes and Standards for High-Pressure Vessels

Appendix International Codes and Standards for High-Pressure Vessels... 

This appendix is a compilation of codes and standards for high-pressure vessels. The center of interest is the dimensioning and the lifetime evaluation of high-pressure vessels. Several codes and standards are evaluated detailed with a view to the applicability for high-pressure vessels. Primarily are described the respective formula for dimensioning of cylindrical shells under internal pressure. The limits of validity are a quite good indication for the application of the codes for high-pressure vessels. 

Table A. 1 shows a collection of international codes and standards for unfired pressure vessels. The column Codes for construction of pressure vessels contains the codes that are usually used for normal pressure vessels. The codes contained in the next column Alternative rules have the possibilities to evaluate the results of an FE analysis and also give guidelines to assess the protection against failure from cyclic loading. The codes to be normally used for high-pressure vessels are included in the last column.

It was not until January 1979 that layered vessels were included in die ASME Code, almost 50 years after they were first introduced. Also in 1979 the ASME Policy Board, Codes and Standards, approved the establishment of a special working group for high pressure vessels under Section VIII. This effort would ultimately culminate in the issuance of Division 3 of Section VIII in 1998. 

The acceptance criterion for the resolution of GSI II.B.l is that plants shall install reactor coolant system and reactor vessel high point vent systems. These systems shall meet the requirements of 10 CFR 50.34 (f)(2)(vi), 10 CFR 50, Appendix A, and the intent of guidance identified in NUREG-0737. In addition, the system(s), shall meet the applicable codes and standards for the RCS pressure boundary. 

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