The Technical Passport for TR CU 032 Pressure Equipment
The technical passport is the document that travels with a piece of pressure equipment for its whole life, one passport per serial number. Most technical regulations do not demand it; TR CU 032 does, and it sets different contents for pipelines, boilers and vessels. Foreign manufacturers are the ones caught out by it.
What is a technical passport?
The document that stays with one physical item of equipment for its service life. It is issued per serial number and never per model. Manufacturing plants and operating companies across the Union are obliged to maintain it, and when the equipment changes owner the passport goes with it.
Most technical regulations do not ask for one. TR CU 032/2013, On the safety of equipment operating under excessive pressure, does. It covers heat exchangers, vessels, fittings, pipes, valves, boilers, safety devices and anything else operating above 0.05 MPa, and foreign manufacturers meeting its document list for the first time are the ones surprised to find the passport on it.
What does a passport contain?
| Section | Contents |
|---|---|
| 1 | Purpose of use, what the equipment is for and where it is used |
| 2 | Technical characteristics: materials, size, type-specific parameters, plus an external photo |
| 3 | Package content, every document supplied with the equipment, with quantities and numbers |
| 4 | Marking and packaging, including everything on the nameplate |
| 5 | Displacement and transportation, including how to handle the product on unpacking |
| 6 | Manufacturer’s warranty |
Section 4 has a language rule that catches people out: the marking plate must be in the Union’s working language. It typically carries the manufacturer’s trademark, the date of production, the name of the specification documents, storage conditions, and the manufacturer’s name and address.
Section 6 is a genuine warranty. The manufacturer takes responsibility that the product is safe and fit to use, and commits to repair under warranty conditions, with the standard warning that improper use voids it.
What does a pipeline passport add?
- Name and address of the owner enterprise
- Appointment
- Date of manufacture
- Working environment
- Working parameters of that environment, pressure in MPa, temperature in °C
- Design life
- Calculated resource
- Estimated number of starts
- Diagrams, drawings, certificates and other manufacture and installation documents
What does a boiler passport add?
The longest of the three. The manufacturer sets how much detail is needed for the boiler type, but the regulation names the headings.
General information. Manufacturer name and address; date of manufacture; type or model; name and purpose; factory number; estimated service life; estimated resource of the boiler and its main parts; estimated number of starts; geometric dimensions of the boiler and its elements.
Technical characteristics and parameters. Design fuel type and its heat of combustion; fuel consumption; type and characteristics of the burners; design, working and test pressure; maximum permissible hydraulic resistance at nominal capacity; minimum allowable pressure at rated temperature; nominal steam temperature at outlet; design temperature of superheated steam or liquid; nominal fluid temperature at inlet; nominal and maximum liquid temperature at outlet; nominal, minimum and maximum permissible steam production; nominal, minimum and maximum heating capacity; heating surface of the boiler and main parts; capacity; minimum and maximum permissible fluid flow rate.
Then, by component group: safety devices, with type, quantity, installation location, cross-sectional area, nominal diameter, flow rate and opening range; liquid level indicators; main fittings, with nominal diameter and pressure, operating parameters, body material and installation site; measurement, control, signalling, regulation and automatic protection equipment; pumps, with operating parameters and drive type; boiler elements made from sheet steel and from pipes, each with dimensions, material, welding and heat treatment; fittings, covers, bottoms, transitions and flanges; and the coolant, with its maximum allowable use temperature, self-ignition temperature in open space, solidification and boiling points, and the boiling-point curve against pressure.
Finally, the drawings and diagrams of the boiler and its main elements, the summary sheet of factory changes, the picking list, and the specification of assembly unit dimensions.
What does a vessel passport add?
Vessels follow GOST 34347-2017, and this is the passport most often returned for correction.
- General information, manufacturer name and address, date of manufacture, factory number, estimated service life.
- Technical parameters, working, design and test pressure in MPa; working temperature of the medium in °C; design wall temperature; minimum permissible negative wall temperature; name of the working medium; medium group; corrosion or erosion allowance in mm; capacity in m³; empty vessel weight in kg; maximum mass of the medium to be poured in kg.
- Main parts, quantity, dimensions, material, welding or soldering.
- Fittings, flanges, covers and fasteners, quantity, dimensions, material.
- Safety devices and instrumentation, quantity, nominal diameter, design pressure, housing material, installation location.
- Drawings and supporting documents, plus anything else bearing on safe operation.
Sources
- TR CU 032/2013, On the safety of equipment operating under excessive pressure, Eurasian Economic Commission
- GOST 34347-2017, Vessels and apparatus of steel welded. General specifications
Frequently asked questions
Is a technical passport needed for a TR CU 032 declaration?
Not always. A declaration of conformity under TR CU 032/2013 can be issued without a technical passport in some cases, while a certificate generally cannot. Even where the approval does not require it, plants across the Union are obliged to maintain a passport for each installed item of equipment, so expect the buyer to ask for one anyway.
Does each unit need its own passport?
Yes. Manufacturing plants and operating companies across the Union keep a separate technical passport for every serial number, not one per model. The passport follows the equipment: when ownership changes, it is handed over with the equipment.
Do the contents differ by equipment type?
The general structure is the same for all three types TR CU 032 covers, but the detail differs. A pipeline passport is short. A boiler passport is the longest, and the manufacturer sets its extent according to the boiler type. A vessel passport sits between them and follows GOST 34347-2017.
Not sure which of these applies to your product? Send it and we will tell you
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