A pressure vessel is a closed container designed to hold liquids or gases at a pressure substantially higher or lower than the ambient pressure.
A vacuum chamber is a rigid container where air and other gases are removed using a vacuum pump. This results in a low-pressure environment within the chamber. The condition of pressure much lower than atmospheric pressure is defined as partial vacuum in opposition with perfect vacuum, which is an ideal condition.
Pressure vessels must be designed to withstand the difference between internal and external pressure. The difference in pressure between inside and outside creates a state of tension in the manufacturing material. So engineers need to design vessels resistant to this state of tension, without stresses which can be the cause of leaks, breakages or dangerous situations for people and things such as explosions.
Pressure is the most important operating parameter, even though there are others. For example, the operating temperature influences the mechanical properties of materials and can cause permanent deformations. Another dimensioning parameter depends on the fluids in contact with the vessel, which can cause chemical attacks on materials such as corrosion or embrittlement.
According to costs and project constraints (e.g. maximum size or need for nozzles), engineers can act on these parameters:
Although differing in some details, all regulations for pressure vessels agree on some construction requirements:
The regulatory reference for designing, manufacturing and using pressure equipment in the European market is the PED (Pressure Equipment Directive) 2014/68/EU product directive.
Examples of pressure vessels include freeze-drying pressure and vacuum chambers for the pharma industry, fractional columns for refineries and oil & gas plants, nuclear reactors, gas and liquid tanks.
TEC-SIM designs and manufactures stainless steel vacuum and pressure equipment mostly intended for freeze-drying, sterilization, drying and condensation.
Mainly made for the pharmaceutical, chemical, petrochemical, biotechnological and food industries, our production is customised in partnership with our customers according to their technical and functional specifications.
TEC-SIM manufactures vacuum and pressure vessels in both cylindrical and rectangular shapes, with tailor-made structures and finishing touches.
Our vessels can be tested according to the standards of boiler and pressure vessel codes:
PED for European countries;
ASME U-Stamp for USA, Canada and 113 other countries around the world;
SELO, also known as China Stamp or China Manufacture License (CML), for China.