Velan has earned PED approval from TUV, a necessity for supplying cast steel valves from Velan’s Portugal manufacturing plant for the German market. Although Velan was among the first valve manufacturers to be awarded approval of compliance with European Directive 97/23/EC from Bureau Veritas, which was meant to harmonise the technical requirements for pressure vessels within the European Union, the approval is insufficient for Germany, where local regulations still prevail. In spite of the valves in question being dimensionally in accordance with API 600 and ASME B16.34, the German quality specifications call for DIN and EN standards. In this context, Velan Portugal went through a series of four steps to achieve PED certification from TUV, including certification of valve castings; DIN standard approval for valve designs; and quality system certification to AD Merkblatt HP0 and PED module B+D. The TUV Type Approval certificate gives Velan an important commercial advantage over many major valve manufacturers that sell in the German market, and yet do not have such certification.
