From a legislative compliance perspective, when a breather vent is installed on a tank it has to perform according to the Standard to which the tank was built, ie, tanks are likely to be designed and built to API650 or BS EN 14015.

Breather vent manufacturers’ should also comply with these standards and perform a leakage test and calibration.  Both (leakage test and calibration) are very important and should be regularly checked to ensure that the required level of performance is maintained.

As the well-known saying indicates “you get what you pay for” and unfortunately the cheaper vents on the market may cost you more in the long run ….. When purchasing your breather vents:

• Ensure the vents are supplied with leakage and calibration certificates. Leakage testing is now part of ISO28300 or API2000. Most manufacturers supply only calibration certificates (not including the leakage tests) which are now technically in contravention of API2000. Testing each vent takes a minimum of 1 hour at the factory and is not something most manufacturers include with every vent. It is usually a cost adder option but we include it in our basic price.
• Effective sealing vents will save thousands of pounds in emission loss.
• Preferably FEP Teflon diaphragms to ensure maximum performance.
• Ensure Manufacturers perform leakage test on the vacuum port too.
• Supplied with stainless steel weights. This is more expensive to supply than lead as offered by our competitors but lead is obviously a big problem for applications within the pharmaceutical, food and drink industries.
• Ensure the cover bolts are on the outside of the seal. This is a leakage path and the reason why few other manufacturers certify leakage rates.
• Ensure pipe-away vents include drains behind the outlet flange. We have experienced many cases where the outlet pipes trail upwards and do not self-drain. This creates the risk that the pressure pallet can freeze onto its seat as it is constantly immersed in condensate.
• A lot of vents on the market are fabricated, not cast. This creates corrosion and bacteria traps which we don’t get with our single piece castings.
• Ensure your breather vent has a current pressure and vacuum leakage test certificate which is stipulated by industry Standard, ie, for vents up to 6″ this is 0.5 SCFH at 75% of set point.

From experience we advise that you avoid the lowest quality breather vents on the market and recommend that you ensure regular testing to meet the minimum pass criteria of ISO28300 or ISO28300 to avoid a vulnerable position with the HSE.

We could offer you replacement vents which are tested to the highest level in these standards and will continue to perform for years.

for more details about our breather valves service packages please click here