High pressure test on the Erie job taught me a hard lesson

We were doing a hydro test on a feedwater heater at the plant outside Erie last month and I didn't double check the relief valve setting before we started pumping. The needle jumped past the redline and we had a 2 inch flange gasket blow out, soaked half the crew before we could isolate it. Anyone else ever trust a valve tag without verifying it and end up wearing the system?

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claire_ramirez12d ago

That valve tag thing gets people all the time. I learned the hard way years ago on a boiler feed pump, now I treat every tag like it's wrong until I watch the needle settle myself. The gasket blowout is the worst part though, you get that steam or hot water hitting you and you don't think straight for a second. What saved me was keeping a small pressure chart in my pocket, then I just mark the actual set point with a pen before we start. Also, always have a second guy on the isolation valve ready to spin it shut, that alone cuts your soak time in half.