I think what Godes said (or meant to say) was .020 (20/1000) inch
thickness tolerance. They're using Schedule 160 extruded stainless pipe
for the reactor, which apparently has a pretty loose tolerance of
around 12% or .050" for wall thickness. So they are ordering parts to a
closer tolerance than the ANSI base specification.
Why is this important? He further said the "wet" system is designed for
up to 2000 psi (130 bar) operating pressure , and 6000 psi (400 bar)
burst strength. It looks like the maximum pressure spec for this pipe is
just over 2k psi @ 400C, so they're working pretty close to the limit.
To ensure physical integrity and safety at these extreme pressures
requires careful attention to details. I would expect the components to
also be checked for hidden flaws like voids and surface stress risers.
AlanG
on 1/23 Jed wrote:
In the first part of the video Robert Godes describes the need to make the
steel cylinder walls uniform to within 1/20,000 of an inch. I cannot
imagine why this is necessary. It is not a cylinder for a piston. There are
other mystifying aspects of the discussion.
