The U. S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2250, the "EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011,'' last month by a vote of 275 to 142 (not enough to override an expected Presidential veto)?—?and then they went home for a week of campaigning.
To keep boiler drum water level in an acceptable range is an important safety guideline for boiler operation. In recent years, accidents have occurred frequently due to boiler drum level measurement and control problems.
One of the biggest stories of 2010 involved valve failure. From April to July, engineers were scrambling to stop the hundreds of millions of gallons of crude oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico after the blowout preventer (BOP) on the Deepwater Horizon rig failed to seal the pipe.
Over the past 20 years, there have been a number of significant revisions to Section 1 of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code relating to water level instrumentation.
We’ve been burning the candle at both ends this month to give you a worthwhile answer to the question you might have asked yourself recently if you’ve told us that you specify, design, or purchase boilers: “What’s this other magazine with the ES in this plastic bag”?