Pressure Vessel Engineering

[Kriegen]

I have been in engineering for about two years now. I am a pretty good designer and would like to advance my careers now. I am in Oklahoma and the best jobs for the surrounding area are for Drilling Engineers, Pump Engineers, or Pressure Vessel Engineers. I would like to get into the pressure vessel arena, but most places ask for years of experience or detailed knowledge. Obviously if I cannot get into the area for expertise, I can never have years of experience. However, I can learn detailed knowledge. Can anyone advise me of where to start for the path to becoming a Pressure Vessel Engineer? I love math and MathCAD so I figure this would be great for me. Thanks.

 

[metengr]

Start here and review on-line courses regarding pressure vessel design. Also, you should start looking for an entry or mid-level engineering job in a pressure vessel fabrication shop that has in-house engineering to work with an experienced pressure vessel design engineer.

http://catalog.asme.org/home.cfm?CATEGORY=ED&TaxonomyItemID=2968

 

[ApC2Kp]

Foofire,

Along with the pressure vessel shops there are a number of good heat exchanger and boiler vendors that could be worth considering in the Tulsa-Oklahoma City area. The ASME Code would be useful as well as TEMA design rules for that design work. Several companies would be Kentube, Optimus, Technotherm, and Victory Energy.
A lot of work is also done for gas processing plants.

 

[nickelkid]

http://www.codeware.com/support/training/index.html

In addition to learning the codes, having the ability to use codware products will make you very, very desirable in the pressure vessel market.

 

[gr2vessels]

Also, the PV Elite design software for pressure vessels, heat exchangers. Try to have an early understanding of the heat transfer processes and very important, the problems generated by corrosion and erosion processes and how to mittigate these issues.
However, you should consider also the pressure vessel engineering future, as the main design tool in near future will be the FEA (take my word, the old cook book ASME VIII will fade in the oblivion pretty soon...).
cheers,
gr2vessels

 

[Kriegen]

Thanks gents for all your comments and advise. I have looked into getting on with someone needing entry-level engineers, but haven't quite made it there yet. I have 4 years of Solidworks experience and am learning CosmosWorks, Ansys, and Femap as soon as I possibly can.

 

[nickelkid]

If you are FEA oriented consider learning FEPipe,

http://www.paulin.com,

gr2vessels is right, but I think having a good understanding div1 is important.

 

[chicopee]

One more thing, educate yourself with the myriad of engineering handbooks on pressure vessels and of piping.
Good starting point is the Chemical Engineering Handbook by Perry and Mechanical Engineering Handbook by Kent. You will also find an abundant supply of technical info. on-line.

 

[Kriegen]

Sorry I haven't replied in a long while. Anyway, I have been able to get a hold of the Chem E Handbook you spoke of, or rather an e-book version. Should be good to start with. Thanks all.

 

[SnTMan]

Foofire, if you visit the website for the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors, you will find a list of Code shops by state. This might be a good place to start developing leads.

Regards,

Mike

 

[19Delta]

Have you considered moving to Houston? The oil industry is still booming.