The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code standards offer the most extensive source of technical data for the production, building, and functioning of boilers and pressure vessels, and are crafted to adapt to the evolving needs of the world, driven by the vision of prominent industry experts.
Since 1914, the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) has established rules of safety governing the design, fabrication, maintenance and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels, power producing machines (and associated subsystems) and nuclear power plant components. So far, 116 countries recognize the Code as an authoritative international standard; 6,900 companies worldwide holding 11, 647 active certificates.
Since 2013, The Code is issued once every two years, and the latest edition, which is called 2023 ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code or abbreviated as 2023 ASME BPVC, was issued on July 1, 2023. With each new edition, the Code continues to evolve, prescribing new concepts, technologies, and methodologies to promote safety across pressure technology applications. The 2023 ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code has 37 books and 19,680 pages in total. More than 382 significant changes plus the new Section XIII book were incorporated into the 2023 edition of the ASME BPVC.
The 2023 ASME BPVC is composed of these main components: Boilers ( Power Boilers & Heating Boilers ); Pressure Vessels; Nuclear; Service and Reference; Code Cases.
Boilers
Boilers component explore the single largest source of technical data used in the manufacturing, construction, and operation of boilers.This component is divided into power boilers and heating boilers.
Power boiler includes:
l Section I—Rules for Construction of Power Boilers
l Section VII—Recommended Guidelines for the Care of Power Boilers
Section I—Rules for Construction of Power Boilers provides requirements for all methods of construction of power, electric, and miniature boilers; high temperature water boilers used in stationary service; and power boilers used in Locomotive, Portable and Traction service.
The rules are applicable to boilers in which steam or other vapor is generated at pressures exceeding 15psig and high-temperature-water boilers intended for operation at pressures exceeding 160psig and/or temperatures exceeding 250° Fahrenheit. The scope includes super heaters, economizers, and other pressure components linked directly to the boiler without the use of intermediate valves. Also provided are guidelines for usage of S, A , E, M, PP and PRT.
Section VII—Recommended Guidelines for the Care of Power Boilers provides recommended guidelines to promote safety in the use of power boilers.The term “power boiler”, in this Section, includes stationary, portable, and traction-type boilers, but does not include locomotive and hightemperature-water boilers, nuclear power-plant boilers, heating boilers, pressure vessels, or marine boilers. Emphasis has been placed on industrial type boilers because of their extensive use.
Section VII includes guidelines to assist those directly responsible for operating, maintaining, and inspecting power boilers; operation of auxiliary equipment and appliance guidelines that affect the safe and reliable operation of power boilers.
Heating boilers includes:
l Section IV–Rules for Construction of Heating Boilers
l Section VI–Recommended Rules for the Care and Operation of Heating Boilers
Section IV–Rules for Construction of Heating Boilers provides requirements for the design, fabrication, installation, and inspection of steam heating, hot water heating, hot water supply boilers, and potable water heaters that are intended for low-pressure service and are directly fired by oil, gas, electricity, coal, or other solid or liquid fuels.
Section IV contains appendices that cover definitions relating to boiler design and welding; quality control systems; methods along with examples of checking safety-valve and safety-reliefvalve capacity and calculation and computation.
There are also guidelines for using the H, HLW and PRT ASME Product Certification Marks.
Section VI–Recommended Rules for the Care and Operation of Heating Boilers covers general descriptions, terminology, and operation guidelines applicable to steam heating, hot-water heating, hot-water supply, cast iron, and potable water boilers that are limited to the operating ranges of Section IV Heating Boilers.
Section VI includes Guidelines for associated controls and automatic fuel burning equipment; illustrations showing typical examples of available equipment; a glossary of terms commonly associated with boilers, controls, and fuel burning equipment.
Pressure Vessels
Pressure Vessels component discover detailed construction requirements across fired and unfired pressure vessels. It includes:
l Section VIII–Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels
l Section X–Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels
l Section XII–Rules for Construction and Continued Services of Transport Tanks
Section VIII–Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels provides requirements applicable to the design, fabrication, inspection, testing, and certification of pressure vessels operating at either internal or external pressures exceeding 15psig. Such pressure vessels may be fired or unfired. Specific requirements apply to several classes of material used in pressure vessel construction, and also to fabrication methods such as welding, forging and brazing. It contains mandatory and nonmandatory appendices detailing supplementary design criteria, nondestructive examination and inspection acceptance standards. Rules pertaining to the use of the U, UM and PRT ASME Product Certification Marks are also included.
This Division isn’t numbered within the traditional method (Part 1, Part 2, etc.) but is structured with Subsections and Parts, which contains letters followed by variety. This Division follows a “Design-by-Rule” philosophy.
Section X–Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels provides requirements for the construction of a fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) pressure vessel in conformance with a manufacturer’s design report. It includes production, processing, fabrication, inspection and testing methods required for the vessel.
This Section speaks to three Classes of vessel design: Class I and Class III - qualification through the destructive test of a prototype; Class II - mandatory design rules and acceptance testing by nondestructive methods.
Section XII–Rules for Construction and Continued Services of Transport Tanks covers requirements for construction and continued service of pressure vessels for the transportation of dangerous goods via highway, rail, air, or water at pressures from full vacuum to 3,000psig and volumes greater than 120 gallons. Rules pertaining to the use of the T and PRT ASME Product Certification Marks are included.
Nuclear
Nuclear component examine essential construction requirements that cover past, present & future nuclear reactor technology. It includes construction and inspection:
l Section III–Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility Components
l Section XI–Rules for Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components.
BPVC Section III Construction of Nuclear Facility Components Scope is intended to cover construction of Components for all types of Nuclear Power Plants: Subsection NCA - General requirements for Divisions 1 and 2; Appendices - Mandatory and nonmandatory appendices referenced by all Divisions of Section III; Division 1 - Requirements for Class 1, 2, 3, and MC Components, Supports, and Core Support Structures;Subsection NB - Class 1 Components; Subsection NCD - Class 2 and 3 Components; Subsection NE - Class MC Components; Subsection NF - Supports; Subsection NG - Core Support Structures; Division 2 - Code for Concrete Containments; Division 3 - Containment Systems and Transport Packaging; Division 4 – Fusion Energy Devices; Division 5 - High Temperature Reactors.
2023 ASME BPVC Section XI provides requirements to maintain the nuclear power plant or nuclear reactor facility while in operation and to return the plant or facility to service following outages. Division 1 provides rules for the examination, inspection, and testing; NDE methods, qualifications, and requirements; evaluation and acceptance standards for flaws, defects, and relevant conditions; repair/replacement processes and correction actions/measures in light water-cooled nuclear power plants. Division 2 provides requirements for the creation of the Reliability and Integrity Management Program, which addresses the entire lifecycle of a facility for all types of nuclear reactor facilities, including advanced nuclear reactor designs. It includes: a methodology to establish Inservice; inspection criteria independent of the SMR technology (e.g., Molten Salt, HTGR, Liquid Metal, etc.); technology neutral–applicable to all reactor designs; an alternative approach to current ISI activities that is needed to accommodate new technologies.
Service and Reference
Service and Reference access material properties, testing data & more, referenced across BPVC. It includes:
l Section II - Materials
l Section V - Nondestructive Examination
l Section IX - Welding, Brazing and Fusing Qualifications
l Section XIII - Rules for Overpressure Protection
Section II - Materials provides material specifications and material properties adequate for safety in the field of pressure equipment for ASME construction that is referenced by the other BPVC sections. It is divided into four Parts: Part A, Ferrous Material Specifications, is a supplementary book referenced by other sections of the Code. It provides material specifications for ferrous materials which are suitable for use in the construction of pressure vessels. The specifications contained in this Part specify the mechanical properties, heat treatment, heat and product chemical composition and analysis, test specimens, and methodologies of testing. The designation of the specifications start with ‘SA’ and a number which is taken from the ASTM ‘A’ specifications; Part B, Nonferrous Material Specifications, is a supplementary book referenced by other sections of the Code. It provides material specifications for nonferrous materials which are suitable for use in the construction of pressure vessels. The specifications contained in Part B specify the mechanical properties, heat treatment, heat and product chemical composition and analysis, test specimens, and methodologies of testing. The designation of the specifications start with ‘SB’ and a number which is taken from the ASTM ‘B’ specifications; Part C, Specifications for Welding Rods, Electrodes and Filler Metals, is a supplementary book referenced by other sections of the Code. It provides mechanical properties, heat treatment, heat and product chemical composition and analysis, test specimens, and methodologies of testing for welding rods, filler metals and electrodes used in the construction of pressure vessels. The specifications contained in this Part are designated with ‘SFA’ and a number which is taken from the American Welding Society (AWS) specifications; Part D, Properties (Customary/Metric), is a supplementary book referenced by other sections of the Code. It provides tables for the design stress values, tensile and yield stress values as well as tables for material properties.
Section V-Nondestructive Examination provides requirements and methods for nondestructive examination (NDE) to detect surface and internal imperfections in materials, welds, fabricated parts, and components. They include radiographic examination, ultrasonic examination, liquid penetrant examination, magnetic particle examination, eddy current examination, visual examination, leak testing, and acoustic emission examination.
Section IX - Welding, Brazing and Fusing Qualifications contains rules relating to the qualification of welding, brazing, and fusing procedures as required by other BPVC Sections for component manufacture. It also covers rules relating to the qualification and requalification of welders, brazers, and welding, brazing and fusing machine operators in order that they may perform welding, brazing, or plastic fusing as required by other BPVC Sections in the manufacture of components. Welding, brazing, and fusing data cover essential and nonessential variables specific to the joining process used.
Section XIII - Rules for Overpressure Protection provides rules for the overpressure protection of pressurized equipment such as boilers, pressure vessels, and piping systems It provides clear pressure integrity and performance requirements, enabling users to identify a pressure relief device’s performance along with anything needed to support overpressure protection. It organizes all requirements by pressure relief device type, including any exceptions or unique ones identified in a specific BPVC section, enabling users to easily identify all requirements across a device. It places capacity certification requirements across BPVC’s many sections into one centralized location for easy reference, allowing users to easily compare the test results of different equipment across similar applications.
Code Cases
Code case can help you learn about approved exceptions and alternatives to standard construction requirements across BPVC. It’s created when an urgent need arises for alternative rules concerning materials, construction, or an inservice inspection activity not covered by existing BPVC rules. Over the 2-year BPVC edition cycle, it’s released 7 times and provided as part of a subscription service for purchasers of BPV or Nuclear Code Case books.
All the code cases are included in 2023 ASME Boilers and Pressure Vessels Code Section I,Section IV, Section VIII and nuclear components Section III, Section XI.