Hydrostatic testing of pressure piping is an essential activity before the implementation of any new or customized piping system. It is the final phase of the mechanical process of the whole piping system and should be followed because, after the process, the piping system has to be employed.
This testing system carried out a specific pressure at 1.5 times higher than the standard design pressure of a piping system regardless of the current service conditions of the policy. Today’s article will teach you about the crucial requirements of hydrostatic pressure testing.
Important Hydrostatic Testing Guidelines
- All the necessary joints in the testing process should be accessible during the actual tests, and these joints should not be painted, backfilled, insulated, or covered until the completion of the testing process. All devices, equipment, and piping to be tested should be cleaned thoroughly by removing all the dirt, construction debris, welding slag, or other foreign components.
- All the vents and other device connections that can display as vents should be open during the filling process so that all the air is vented accordingly to the applying test pressure to the piping system. Test vents should also be installed at higher points. Draining points for liquid waste after the testing process should be present.
- Equipment and devices that are not needed to the pressure test should be removed from the piping system. All the spades and blanks utilized for the piping testing process should be created to endure the test pressure without being ruined. The presence of the spades should be visible during the whole testing process.
- Spring supports should also remove, and expansion bellows are also removed during the hydrostatic testing.
- Strainer elements, expansion joints, pressure-relieving devices like rupture disc, and pressure relief valves should be locally mounted to indicate pressure gauges.
- Rotating tools and devices such as pumps, compressors, and turbines should not be involved in the piping testing system. As well as the seal oil and machinery lube which could be damaged by the water.
- A piping system which is typically open to the environment such as drains, piping from the pressure-relieving equipment, stack downstream and vents should not be involved in the piping test pressure
- Control valves and soft-seal block valves should be eliminated from the piping system before the application of the hydrostatic testing and should be replaced with pipe spools.
- The check valve should have the required flap or piston eliminated for the piping system, where pressure can’t be placed on the above stream side of the relief valve. The locking equipment of the flap pin should be combined with the pivot flap, and a new cover tool should be installed upon the completing of the piping system.
- Testing tools such as manifold, pressure and temperature recorder, pumps, pressure gauges should be included within the standard certification according to the company procedure. It should be connected to the lowest connection as possible within the piping system to make sure that the result is outstanding.
Hydrostatic testing procedure should be performed until all the hot works have been accomplished on a specific piping system.