Tips on buying pressure vessels from Asia

[dil950]

Hello,

The company I'm working with is interested in buying pressure vessels from asian manufacturers. (their plan is to install them in Malaysia and also as a cost cutting measure) I've only purchased tanks from the USA and EU so i'm not too familiar with the quality of tanks in Asia.

We're not talking about high pressure (30psig) but the volume is 40000L and bigger. Is there any directory of tank vendors that have been verified to build to code? I'm trying to avoid flying around asia and visiting every vendor before selecting one. I would also appreciate any helpful tips on buying from asia. Thanks

 

[weldtek]

Based on my experience as a US fabricator, my advice is, don't buy pressure vessels from Asia. I know I'm biased.

We've been called on in the past to repair/ rebuild stamped pressure vessels that were brand new and had never seen service, but, that failed to meet Code. I'm talking recently. I'm talking about scrapping vessels and building new ones. Can you afford that?

As they say, 'Quality doesn't cost, it pays'.

 

[blacksmith37]

If you are not building to ASME with onsite inspection; Just keep a list of vendor whos' tanks have failed you , and don't buy from them again.

 

[vesselfab]

If you can afford in your budget, to keep an experienced inspector, one that you've hired and relocated from USA or EU, full time in the shop that has a PMI machine and is qualified to use it, and can really stay on top of welding and materials used, then an ASIAN mfg will be ok.

 

[Kiwi2671]

dil950,
I am currently working as the Australian contractors QC rep on fabricated structural modules in Thailand for shipping and installation to mines and O&G sites in Australia.
We are using one large fabrication company and have just been awarded two further structural steel projects.
As the size of these two projects warrants looking for other fabrication companies in Thailand I have audited 3 other companies.
One company I audited (Best Tech & Engineering) specialise in pressure vessel fabrication and they hold ASME certifications S, U, U2, PP - NBIC certifications NB & R and ISO certifications 9001 and 14001 from Bureau Veritas)
Very impressed with their set-up - not sure they are appropriate for our structural work but if I had pressure piping or vessels I would definitely be talking to them.
You should be able to get a world-wide register of ASME stamp holders from the ASME website - might be worth a look.
If I can be of any more assistance give me a call on +66 871 331 376,
Regards,
Shane

 

[weeeds]

We found a Chinese ASME Div. I and Div. II fabricator with a representative in North America. The rep is responsible for the vessel design, deals with the shop directly, and performs in-process inspections at their cost in order to ensure that we get what we order. This way the rep is accountable and responsible as their reputation is on the line. The in-process auditing and inspection is the key. You can look at

http://www.jhmamericas.com.

 

[bernoullies123]

KNM Process Systems are a good ASME vessel fabricator in Malaysia.

They were a reasonably small fabricator years ago, and one probably wouldn't of considered them, but now they are huge and have their fingers dipped in the pie globally. Aside from their huge expansion they maintain the same vessel shops (1 on the east, 1 on west cost of Malaysia), with their engineering house in KL. I have built many vessels here which went south to Oz. The local AI pulled up things that I, as a client rep let go, which is a good sign...

Are you thinking primarily SE Asia? The Koreans make fantastic vessels.

As far as tips... just simple old due diligence will do. Instead of flying here, you can request they put in a trip to your location in their quote for a clarification meeting.

 

[boilerone]

I helped my company to buy pressure parts from China in the past. Just need to find the ones with good reputations, not the cheap suppliers plus hire good inspectors/agents. After a few rounds, you will get to know the culture and the tricks and be successful.

If you feel intimidated about buying and using things made in China then don't go to Walmart or almost any other store nowadays. How could the early pioneers explore the land and found the ways to do things right?

 

[stanweld]

dil950,
For your initial order(s), as a minimum, perform a pre-award audit of the manufacturer's facility and QC organization and after award, conduct a preinspection meeting with representatives of your QC/Welding staff, Puruchasing and Engineering departments and your contracted international Inspection company's inspector (your primary inspection rep). Do make periodic visits to check on the effectiveness of your contracted inspector and the quality of the manufacturer's work.

 

[dil950]

Thank you everybody for the suggestions.

 

[chicopee]

You can not go wrong with USA pressure vessel fabricators as there is too much at stake for them. In Asia, good luck if you experience a catastrophy. Didn't I read in the recent past that China will only buy American products for their nuclear facilities. That should tell you something.

 

[trottiey]

Chicopee, could you stop spreading an urban legend? As I've pointed out to you before, I'm pretty sure that even if the Chinese government's ban on Chinese piping was ever real, it was just a temporary knee-jerk reaction to the catastrophic failure of a counterfeit P91 pipe in the main steam line at the Huadian Datong power plnt in 2006. The rumour was broadcast by a widely forwarded email chain, a copy of which is available here:

http://www.migas-indonesia.net/index.php?option=com_docman&;task=doc_download&gid=792

This generated a lot of fear and discussion at the time, see thread330-172967. But I'm pretty sure that China buys Chinese products for their nuclear facilities.



Stress is a biological mechanism that improves strength at the expense of thought. It is counter-productive to solving technological problems.

 

[boilerone]

I agree with Trottiey, except for very critical items like tubes and pipes for supercritical and ultra-supercritical plants, the majority of the rest of items are all made from Chinese materials and by Chinese manufacturers, especially the pressure vessels such as 100% of the steam drums and headers. These materials and manufacturers all carry ASME certifications and no major incidents were reported except for the ONLY one mentioned by Trottiey and it was related to a fake P91 pipe and lessons learned.

Even further, for the even more critical items like pressure vessels for nuclear plants such as reactor and steam generators, China is planning to have them 100% domestically-supplied in the future. Plus, due to insufficient global nuclear manufacturing capacities/capabilities. Chinese manufacturers are mow gearing up to participate in the global supply of standard components of Westinghouse AP1000 and Areva EPR designs. See the news below:

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/C-Chinese_suppliers_gain_Gen_III_qualification-1401104.html

 

[chicopee]

"....except for very critical items like tubes and pipes for supercritical and ultra-supercritical plants..." and about these older (1992) urban legends as per the attachment showing an evaluation prepared for the NB of Boilers and PV Inspectors and the NB/Special Edition 1992 listing nine separate incidents relating to flanges. I got a copy of that last report.
I have no current reports since I have been out of the loop since that time

 

[chicopee]

Oops, forgot the attachment.