Re: Piping basement for compressor air supply

dpb wrote:
> Hoosierpopi wrote:
> ...
>> I'm sure there are stats and such to back this up, but personal
>> experience says "bunk."
>
> Below link outlines the issue and at least one alternative--
>
> http://www.hydraulicspneumatics.com/200/Issue/Article/False/6547/Issue
>
> Here's the link to and an excerpt from the OSHA (I think original on
> the subject) announcement--
>
> http://www.nmsu.edu/~safety/news/news-items/PVC&comp_air_lines.htm
>
> ...
> MEMORANDUM FOR REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS
> ...
> FROM: EDWARD BAIER
> Director
> Directorate of Technical Sup****t
>
> SUBJECT: Safety Hazard Information Bulletin on
> the Use of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Pipe
> in Above ground Installations
>
> The Dallas Regional Office has brought to our attention a potential
> serious hazard existing with the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
> plastic pipes for trans****ting compressed gases in above ground
> installations. An employee in a Texas plant was injured recently by 
> a
> rupture in a PVC compressed air line. Plastic projectiles from the
> point of rupture caused lacerations of the employee's hand. This is
> noteworthy because the Plastic Pipe Institute, in its Recommendation
> B dated January 19, 1972, recommends against the use of 
> thermoplastic
> pipe to trans****t compressed air or other compressed gases in 
> exposed
> plant piping. ...
>
> Furthermore, sections 842.32, 842.43 and 849.52(b) of the American
> National Standards Institute/American Society of Mechanical 
> Engineers
> (ANSI/ASME) B31.8-1986, Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping
> Systems Standard, limit the operating pressure of plastic piping
> distribution systems to 100 pounds per inch (psi) and prohibit the
> installation of such systems above ground except where ". . . the
> above ground ****tion of the plastic service line is completely
> enclosed in a conduit or casing of sufficient strength to provide
> protection from external damage and deterioration."
>
> ...
>> We used a big old eighty-gallon unit with a 5HP motor and 
>> heavy-duty
>> two-stage compressor we got from a body shop that closed down.
>
> Size/HP of the compressor aren't the issue nearly as much as the
> operating pressure and to a somewhat lesser degree the piping sizing
> (larger diameter --> more schrapnel in case of fracture).  The OSHA
> mandate is for >100 psi systems I believe.
>
>
>> We're talking nearly ten years of use w/o issues and moved the 
>> system
>> to a new warehouse where its been doing nicely for seven more 
>> years.
>
> Regarding a specific system and experience, it's only an issue when 
> it
> becomes one; unfortunately when that happens it could cause a
> significant injury.
>
> It's one of those things where I'm not going to tell anybody they 
> have
> to do something but it is imo irresponsible to recommend it.

It's kind of like running into someone who rides a motorcycle and says 
"I've never crashed so why wear a helmet?".

-- 
-- 
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)