How Hydro Testing Works And What It

By Daniel Miller


Any house or business has a number of things in it called pressure vessels, which are containers or pipes that keep pressurized gasses and liquids inside at extreme temperatures. These are things like plumbing systems, gas cylinders, boilers, and pipelines. Hydro testing is necessary for these vessels in order to ensure their safety and functionality.

Since the liquids or gasses inside these vessels are pressurized and often at very high or low temperatures, making sure everything is working properly with a standardized test is very important. When they were being developed, these containers and pipelines caused many deaths due to faulty design. Now they have been made much safer, and a professional test can ensure its safety.

Many people simply call the hydrostatic pressure test a leak test because the main thing that the tester is looking for is any pressure being lost. These small leaks can lead to big problems over time, and they can cause huge damages that can be very dangerous. Tests like this also look at how durable the vessel is an make sure everything is working as it should.

While this test requires trained professionals and specialized equipment, the process is not very hard to understand. The container or pipeline is filled with a liquid or a gas, most commonly water, through its supply valve. Once it reaches the designated pressure for the test, the valve is shut off; if any pressure is lost, it means that there is a leak somewhere.

In order to identify exactly where a leak is occurring, the water or liquid that is used to test the system is usually dyed or colored in some way. This makes it possible to see where the water is going and then to examine that part of the container to see what the problem is. It can then be determined if it's an easy fix or if a replacement is necessary.

Now that these tests are standardized and required of all vessels, manufacturers will have them tested directly after they make them. This means that customers can be assured that the container or pipe will work correctly and not put them at risk. Tests that are done periodically are called modified hydrostatic tests, also known as proof pressure tests.

When a customer is looking for a professional to perform this kind of a test, they are sometimes given the option to choose which medium they would like to be used for the test. The professional may recommend a particular medium because it works best on the type of vessel. Oil is expensive and air is difficult to set up, making water the most popular choice for customers.

In order to make sure that the user of a pressurized vessel will be safe, tests like these often go far above the pressure that it would be at for normal operations. This gives the user added confidence that nothing will go wrong when using it. The amount of pressure being tested at will usually be a percentage higher than the normal operating pressure.




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