We’re pleased to announce that Mueller Environmental Designs recently achieved a significant milestone by receiving its U2 Certification to fabricate equipment under the Section VIII Division 2 standards of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. According to ASME, “in comparison to Division 1, Division 2 requirements on materials, design, and nondestructive examination are more rigorous, however, higher design stress intensity levels are allowed.” Employing these “industry-best practices achieves operational, cost, and safety benefits.”
I asked Victor Rangel, our Quality Control Manager who led the Div. 2 project team, to comment on its significance. “This represents a major transformation. While we had been successfully creating Div. 1 vessels for years, virtually everything changes under Div. 2. The standards, the calculations, even the testing requirements are significantly different and more demanding. However, our entire staff was well prepared and we’ve been told our certification process was unusually issue-free. It’s very exciting to see our company take this professional step forward,” he said.
Our Vice President of Manufacturing Tommy Tamayo elaborates on what this means, “By being qualified to produce our high pressure separators and deodorizers under the more stringent Div. 2 guidelines we can utilize less thick steel which results in substantial savings without affecting performance or safety. It’s an attractive option for our clients,” he added.
In an era when many industry suppliers seem to have moved much of their manufacturing out of the country, Mueller has not only continued to produce our equipment here in the United States as we have for over a quarter century, but have now brought virtually all fabrication under our own roof. And we are particularly proud of the high performance level of those operations. Achieving our Div. 2 certification is just one indication of that quality. For example, while most shops average 2%-3% initial weld rejection rates, in the first quarter of this year our welders’ ratio was a mere fraction of that—only 0.5%.
These are hallmarks of a safe, efficient, quality-focused facility, one you can confidently trust to build your equipment. We invite you to tour our Houston 10 acre area campus, whether it’s to inspect your units during fabrication, or to simply experience for yourself how we operate. We’ll include a demonstration of our KLS filterless gas separation technology using a scale model simulator. To arrange a tour contact your Mueller project manager, or Terry Burge our VP of Marketing.
In the accompanying photo the Mueller crew displays the ASME U2 Certificate. From left to right CEO Fred Mueller, Quality Control Manager Victor Rangel, President Janice Mueller, VP of Manufacturing Tommy Tamayo, and Chief Technology Officer Randy Millier.
