Tag Archives: D4

Loading
loading..

Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code

“Mechanic and Steam Pump” | Lewis W. Hine (1921)

 

The heating and cooling requirements of K-12 schools, college and university educational, medical research and healthcare delivery campuses are a large market for boiler pressure vessel manufacturers, installers, maintenance personnel and inspectors.  The demand for building new, and upgrading existing boilers — either single building boilers, regional boilers or central district energy boilers — presents a large market for professional engineering firms also.  A large research university, for example, will have dozens, if not well over 100 boilers that heat and cool square footage in all climates throughout the year.  The same boilers provide heating and cooling for data centers, laundry operations, kitchen steam tables in hospitals and dormitories.

The safety rules for these large, complex and frankly, fearsome systems, have been developed by many generations of mechanical engineering professionals in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC).   From the BPVC scope statement:

“…The International Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code establishes rules of safety — relating only to pressure integrity — governing the design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels, and nuclear power plant components during construction. The objective of the rules is to provide a margin for deterioration in service. Advancements in design and material and the evidence of experience are constantly being added…”

Many state and local governments incorporate the BPVC by reference into public safety regulations and have established boiler safety agencies.  Boiler explosions are fairly common, as a simple internet search on the term “school boiler explosion” will reveal.  We linked one such incident at the bottom of this page.

University of Michigan Central Heating Plant

The 2023 Edition of the BPVC is the current edition; though the document is divided into many sections that change quickly.

ASME Codes & Standards Electronic Tools

ASME Proposals Available For Public Review

ASME Section IV: Rules for the Construction of Heating Boilers (2019)

Public consultation on changes to the standard for controls and safety devices for automatically fired boilers closes September 25th.   

This is a fairly stable domain at the moment.  We direct you elsewhere to emergent topics:

Ghost kitchens gaining steam on college campuses

College: the Next Big Frontier for Ghost Kitchens

Illinois Admin. Code tit. 77, § 890.1220 – Hot Water Supply and Distribution

Design Considerations for Hot Water Plumbing

FREE ACCESS: 2019 ASME Boiler and Pressure Code (Section VI) 

Plumbing

 

 

Two characteristics of the ASME standards development process are noteworthy:

  • Only the proposed changes to the BPVC are published.   The context surrounding a given change may be lost or not seen unless access to previous version is available.  Knowledgeable experts who contribute to the development of the BPVC usually have a previous version, however.  Newcomers to the process may not.
  • The BPVC has several breakout committees; owing to its longer history in the US standards system and the gathering pace of complexity in this technology.

We unpack the ASME bibliography primarily during our Mechanical, Plumbing and Energy colloquia; and also during our coverage of large central laundry and food preparation (Kitchens 100) colloquia.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting, open to everyone.

Issue: [12-33] [15-4] [15-161] [16-77] [18-4] [19-157]

Category: District Energy, Energy, Mechanical, Kitchens, Hot Water

Contact: Eric Albert, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

More:

Standards Michigan BPVC Archive

ASME BPVC Resources

Big Ten & Friends Energy Conference 2023

Standards Michigan Workspace (Requires access credentials from [email protected]).

School Boiler Maintenance Programs: How Safe Are The Children? 

Boiler Explodes at Indiana High School


Higher Education Laboratories

2024 GROUP A PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE I-CODES: Complete Monograph (2658 pages)

Note the following changes in the transcript above:

Section 702 (Rated Construction), FS44-24 Installer Qualifications (typical marketmaking), Section 3801 (Materials exceeding the Maximum Allowable Quantity), F59-24 (Battery Containment Areas), F81-24 (Health Care Facility Plugs), F112-24 (Lithium Ion Battery Labs), F197-24 (Market making, laboratory oven protection study), F235-24 (Hazardous Materials Classifications & quantity limits).


Safety and sustainability concepts for research and healthcare delivery cut across many disciplines and standards suites and provides significant revenue for most research universities.  The International Code Council provides free access to current editions of its catalog of titles incorporated by reference into public safety law.  CLICK HERE for an interactive edition of Chapter 38 of the 2021 International Fire Code.

During today’s colloquium we will examine consultations for the next edition in the link below:

2021 International Fire Code Chapter 38 Higher Education Laboratories

We encourage our colleagues to participate directly in the ICC Code Development process.   The next revision of the International Fire Code will be undertaken accordingly to next ICC Code Development schedule; the timetable linked below:

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

We encourage directly employed front-line staff of a school district, college or university that does not operate in a conformance/compliance capacity — for example, a facility manager of an academic unit — to join a committee.  Not the Fire Marshall.  Not the Occupational Safety Inspector.  Persons with job titles listed below:

  • Fire Safety System Designer
  • Fire Alarm Technician (Shop Foreman)
  • Building Commissioner
  • Electrical, Mechanical Engineer
  • Occupational Safety Engineer

These subject matter experts generally have a user-interest point of view.

Contact Kimberly Paarlberg ([email protected]) for information about how to do so.

 

Related:

 2021 International Mechanical Code

2021 International Plumbing Code

2021 International Energy Conservation Code

Issue 16-69

Category: Fire Safety, Facility Asset Management

Colleagues: Joe DeRosier, Josh Elvove, Mark Schaufele

Archive / Higher Education Laboratories

Meeting Point

Danse de recherche sur le cancer

Electrical Safety in Academic Laboratories

Nikola Tesla, with his equipment / Credit: Wellcome Library, London

We collaborate closely with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets 4 times monthly in European and American time zones.  Risk managers, electrical safety inspectors, facility managers and others are welcomed to click into those teleconferences also.  We expect that concepts and recommendations this paper will find their way into future revisions of US and international electrical safety codes and standards.  There is nothing stopping education facility managers from applying the findings immediately.

College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar India


Electrical Safety of Academic Laboratories | 2019-PSEC-0204

Presented at the 55th IEEE Industrial Applications Society I&CPS Technical Conference | Calgary, Alberta Canada | May 6-9, 2019

Ω

Rodolfo Araneo, University of Rome “La Sapienza” | [email protected]

Payman Dehghanian, George Washington University | [email protected]

Massimo Mitolo, Irvine Valley College | [email protected]

 

Abstract. Academic laboratories should be a safe environment in which one can teach, learn, and conduct research. Sharing a common principle, the prevention of potential accidents and imminent injuries is a fundamental goal of laboratory environments. In addition, academic laboratories are attributed the exceptional responsibility to instill in students the culture of the safety, the basis of risk assessment, and of the exemplification of the prudent practice around energized objects.  Undergraduate laboratory assignments may normally be framed based upon the repetition of established experiments and procedures, whereas, academic research laboratories may involve new methodologies and/or apparatus, for which the hazards may not be completely known to the faculty and student researchers. Yet, the academic laboratory should be an environment free of electrical hazards for both routine experiments and research endeavors, and faculty should offer practical inputs and safety-driven insights to academic administration to achieve such a paramount objective. In this paper, the authors discuss the challenges to the electrical safety in modern academic laboratories, where users may be exposed to harmful touch voltages.

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Electricity and Human Vulnerabilities

B. Electrical Hazards in Academic Laboratories

II. ELECTRICAL SEPARATION

III. SAFETY IN ACADEMIC LABORATORIES WITH VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVES

IV. ELECTRICAL SAFETY IN ACADEMIC LIGHTING LABORATORIES

V. ACADEMIC RESEARCH LABORATORIES

A. Basic Rules of Engagement

B. Unidirectional Impulse Currents

VI. HAZARDS IN LABORATORIES DUE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD EXPOSURE

VII. WARNING SIGNS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PERCEPTION OF DANGER

VIII. CONCLUSION

Safety is the most important practice in an academic laboratory as “safety and productivity are on the same team”.  Electrical measurement and electrically-powered equipment of various brands and models are common in both teaching and research laboratories, highlighting the need to maintaining them continuously in an electrically-safe status.  Annual reports on the occurrence of electrical hazards (i.e. shocks and injuries) in academic laboratory environments primarily discover the (i) lack of knowledge on using the electrical equipment, (ii) careless use of the energized electric facilities, and (iii) faulty electrical equipment or cords. The above does call for the establishment of safety-driven codes, instructions, and trainings for the academic personnel working with or near such devices for teaching, learning, experiments, and research. This paper provided background information on the concept of electrical safety in the academic laboratories, presented the safety challenges of modern academic laboratories, and offered solutions on how enhance the lab environment and research personnel safety awareness to avoid and control electrical hazards.

Issue: [19-129]

Category: Electrical, Facility Asset Management, Fire Safety, International

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Rodolfo Araneo, Payman Dehghanian, Jim Harvey, Massimo Mitolo, Joe Tedesco

Related IEEE Research:

Laboratory Safety and Ethics

Strengthening and Upgrading of Laboratory Safety Management Based on Computer Risk Identification

Study on the Operators’ Attention of Different Areas in University Laboratories Based on Eye Movement Tracking Technology

Critical Study on the feasiblity of Smart Laboratory Coats

Design of Safety Monitoring System for Electrical Laboratory in Colleges and Universities under the Background of Informatization

Clean Environment Tools Design For Smart Campus Laboratory Through a Global Pandemic

Design of Laboratory Fire Safety Monitoring System


Off-Campus Housing

Brigham Young University Idaho is a private university located in Rexburg, Idaho, United States. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is a part of the Church Educational System which recognizes moral absolutes at the foundation of a federal democratic republic that makes their university possible.  It offers a variety of undergraduate degrees in fields such as business, education, health, and the humanities. The university also offers online courses and programs for distance learners.

One unique aspect of BYU-Idaho is its emphasis on the integration of faith and learning. All students, regardless of their religious background, are required to take religion courses as part of their degree program. The university also has a code of conduct that includes standards for dress, grooming, behavior, and academic honesty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standards Idaho

Top Deck View

University of Bath: Department of Estates

BSI Group Standards Catalog

BSI Group Standards Catalog

*After the Roman period, Bath remained a small town until the 18th century, when it became a fashionable spa destination for the wealthy. The architect John Wood the Elder designed much of the city’s Georgian architecture, including the famous Royal Crescent and the Circus. Bath also played an important role in the English literary scene, as several famous authors, including Jane Austen, lived and wrote in the city.   During the 19th century, Bath’s popularity declined as other spa towns became fashionable. In the 20th century, the city experienced significant redevelopment and preservation efforts, including the restoration of its Roman baths and the construction of a new spa complex.

Today, Bath is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular tourist destination known for its historical and cultural significance.

Sound Transmission

This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send [email protected] a request for subscription details.

Layout mode
Predefined Skins
Custom Colors
Choose your skin color
Patterns Background
Images Background
Skip to content