National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors

The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors is composed of chief boiler and pressure vessel inspectors representing states, cities, and provinces enforcing pressure equipment laws and regulations. Created to prevent death, injury and destruction, these laws and regulations represent the collective input of National Board members.

During the past ten years, over six million pressure equipment inspections were performed in North America. Of that total, there were more than 556,000 violations, or more than 556,000 potential accidents that were prevented: almost one out of every ten pieces of equipment inspected. For the general public, the importance of thoroughly trained and specially commissioned inspectors is of critical significance: every person in the civilized world comes within close proximity of pressure equipment several times each day.

Steam drove the Industrial Revolution during the mid-19th century. At this point in history, conversion of water was considered both good and bad: good in the sense it powered industrial progress, and bad in that boilers used in the conversion process employed new and unproven technology. According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME):

As catastrophic casualties continued into the early 20th century, the ASME developed its boiler code in 1915. While the code provided a solid reference of construction standards, it lacked an important component: the authority to regulate. This was complicated by existence of local and state jurisdictions having their own codes and standards. The result was a patchwork of confusion having no basis in consistency.

On December 2, 1919, Ohio Chief Inspector Carl Myers met with chief inspectors from other jurisdictions to discuss creation of a board of inspector representatives from each of the existing jurisdictions. Hence, the genesis of The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors.

There are no longer 50,000 deaths caused by pressure equipment each year. However, if not properly maintained and inspected, boilers and pressure vessels can be lethal, and in some instances, catastrophic.

For example, rupture of a typical 30-US-gallon (110 L) home hot-water tank generates the equivalent of 0.16 pounds of nitroglycerin. Translated, that is enough force to send the average car (weighing 2,500 pounds) to a height of nearly 125 feet (38 m) – or more than the elevation of a 14-story apartment building starting with a lift-off velocity of 85 miles per hour. When a similar hot-water tank explodes, its volume expands approximately 1,600 times. That is comparable to taking a 5-US-gallon (19 L) trash can and causing it to fill a 12’ x 11’ living room with an 8-foot (2.4 m) ceiling in a split second. A large industrial boiler has the capacity to level an entire city block.

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Wikipedia