Implementation of European directives on energy

Abstract

The Pressure Equipment Directive - PEV 97/23/EC regards only the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies of pressure equipment and applies to equipment subject to a maximum allowable pressure exceeding 0.5 bar. When pressure equipment is installed at an energy producing facility, then it may fall within the scope of other Directives. For instance, a compressor assembly falls wilhin the scope of the Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC, /1/, Simple Pressure Vessels Directive 87/404/EEC, /2/, Machinery Directive 98/37/EEC, /3/, and the Low Voltage Directive (LVD) 2006/95/EC, /4/, since parts of the assembly, the compressor, tanks, condenser, measurement and regulation devices and instruments, armature, electromotor, and other elements, all individually fall within the scope of a particular directive. Transportable pressure equipment falls within the scope of Directive 99/36/EC, /5/. The responsibility of the manufacturer, or supplier of aggregates, in the form of a structure, is such thaI al parts of the equipment must conform to the requirements of the corresponding directive. The paper gives a review and basic characteristics of the new and general approach to standardization and technical conformity only for pressure equipment and machines, that pertain to structural integrity.