PED Directive 2014/68/UE
The Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU, known as PED (Pressure Equipment Directive), is a product directive issued by the European Union, which regulates the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies.
APPLICATION
The PED 2014/68/UE applies to vessel, piping, safety accessories, pressure accessories and assemblies subjected to a maximum allowable pressure PS greater than 0.5 bar.
Pressure equipments, with a pressure equal to or less than 0.5 bar, are excluded from the application of the Directive.
Pressure equipment, which fall within the scope, must meet the Essential Safety Requirements defined in Annex I of the PED.
When placing on the market, manufacturers shall affix the CE marking and issue the EU declaration of conformity.
The PED identifies manufacturers as responsibles for the construction, with the intervention of the Notified Body for the conformity assessment in the foreseen cases.
The PED only concerns the placing on the EU market of pressure equipment, but it does not give indications about the requirements related to the operation and maintenance of the same, which are defined by National Regulations.
PRESSURE EQUIPMENTS AND ASSEMBLIES SUBJECT TO PED
- VESSEL: housing designed and built to contain fluids under pressure;
- PIPING: piping components intended for the transport of fluids, when connected together for integration into a pressure equipment;
- PRESSURE ACCESSORIES: devices with an operational function and having pressure-bearing housing;
- SAFETY ACCESSORIES: devices designed to protect pressure equipment against the allowable limits being exceeded;
- ASSEMBLIES: several pieces of pressure equipment assembled by a manufacturer to constitute an integrated and functional whole.
DANGER CATEGORY CLASSIFICATION
The PED requires manufacturers to identify the danger category of the equipment built, which is linked to the concept of energy stored in the equipment. The energy stored is evaluated based on the following parameters:
- Maximum allowable pressure (PS);
- Own volume V or own nominal size DN, as appropriate;
- Fluid type and state.
Annex II defines, through 9 tables, the belonging of the component or of the equipment to one of the four risk categories, with reference to the type of pressure equipment, to the group and to the physical state of the fluid, to the PSxV value in the case of vessel and PSxDN in the case of pipes .
The category of the assemblies is determined by the highest category of components, excluding safety accessories.
AUTHORISATIONS
ECO works as Notified Body nr. 0714 for the conformity assessment of Pressure Equipments according to the following procedures defined by the PED:
- Module A2: Internal production control plus supervised pressure equipement checks at random intervals
- Module B: EU-Type examination – Production Type
- Module B: EU-Type examination – Design Type
- Module C2: Conformity to type based on internal production control plus supervised pressure equipment checks at random intervals
- Module D: Conformity to type based on quality assurance of the production process
- Module D1: Quality assurance of the production process
- Module E: Conformity to type based on pressure equipment quality assurance
- Module E1: Quality assurance of final pressure equipment inspection and testing
- Module F: Conformity to type based on pressure equipment verification
- Module G: Conformity based on unit verification
- Module H: Conformity based on full quality assurance
- Module H1: Conformity based on full quality assurance plus design examination
On request, ECO, during the testing phase, performs the inspection of safety devices efficiency as required by the Italian Ministerial Decree n. 329 of 01/12/2004 – art. 5, paragraph D – which exempts the user from requesting inspection of commissioning by INAIL (National Institute for Insurance against Workplace Accidentals and Occupational Disease).