Despite the fact that it is somewhat outdated technology, steam is still used for many industrial purposes. The era of the steam engine is long gone, but in industrial settings, everything from autoclaves to heated storage vessels to in-floor heating is done using steam.
Most older buildings and almost all large campuses and storage facilities use steam heating, since it is the best way to bring a lot of heat from a central location to a large number of places. The thing is, steam is surprisingly dangerous, especially considering how much of it is found in many industrial settings. A worn or weakened steam pipe may burst without warning, filling a room with boiling steam. This can damage expensive equipment in the room and may injure or kill any workers who happen to be near the pipe when it bursts.
Additionally, pipes can burst when their safety valves fail or have not been properly installed, permitting steam pressure to build up to many times greater than would be safe for the design and construction of the pipe. For this reason, it is essential for any business to install inspectors test kits, so that pipes can routinely be examined for potential steam-related problems. There are a large number of components to any inspector’s test kit. It is not possible, of course, to dismantle every inch of pipe and examine it carefully. Fortunately, modern test kits are designed to simply tap into the pipe at regular intervals and examine the pressure and contents of the steam traveling through the line.
Advanced steam kits can determine the presence of rust particles or other impurities which would indicate that the steam line has begun to degrade, enabling the inspector to quickly narrow down which portions of the pipe need to be replaced or repaired. Some kits are even able to sample data from a specialized spigot or by sensing the temperature and vibration in the metal, enabling the inspector to get more invaluable data. In order to get the most out of these test kits, it is essential for the company employing them to install pressure valves and sample valves at regular intervals. These enable anyone inspecting the line to sample the steam and see what the absolute pressure is, and many double as places where an inspector’s test kit can plug in and gather sample data. These sampling ports and valves also enable those who are working on the line to examine the area for potential hazards, and alert relevant authorities or safety inspectors. In recent years, advances in inspection kits are credited with almost completely eliminating steam-related workplace injuries in the modern world.
It is highly recommended that emergency crews such as firefighters carry some basic steam sampling equipment when in industrial areas, especially since steam is increasingly being used to heat and sterilize equipment in modern bio-manufacturing processes. Properly monitored, steam lines can last almost indefinitely, but all it takes is a single weak joint to result in massive and painful destruction.