When selecting a supplier to help you with CSA B149.3 compliance, you need to be confident they can supply you with technically competencies, a realistic design for implementation, the services you need, and reliability.

Whether using a Standards Council of Canada accredited Inspection Body (IB) or Professional Engineer based on the province, you should look for the following.

1. An accredited IB, even if choosing to use a Professional Engineer to approve, as it provides the highest level of competency.

   ENEFEN was the FIRST Inspection Body in Canada accredited to ISO/IEC 17020, and is the only Type C, which allows ENEFEN to provide engineering services, as well as, inspection services. ENEFEN provides P.Eng. approvals in Alberta.

2. Knowledgeable staff that communicates coherently.

   ENEFEN has more than 30 years experience with commercial and industrial combustion equipment. Professionally experienced staff know how to translate the code into workable solutions for installers, operators and owners.

3. Consistent inspection processes & procedures.

   ENEFEN uses a proprietary database which incorporates code requirements with more than 5,000 designs and easily incorporates custom designs. The inspector

4. Quality assurance and quality control for accurate recording and reporting of evidence and inspection results.

   ENEFEN

Many companies provide inspection services, sometimes at a low cost or high cost. Before commissioning an organisation to undertake such work, it is important to know the risks. Ask yourself:

1. Are you confident that the organisation has the technical competence to undertake the work in question?
2. Are you satisfied that the organisation has the resources to do the work?
3. Are your needs for impartiality and integrity met by the application of suitable procedures in the organisation?
4. Are you confident that the organisation has an adequate quality management system in place to provide a service that consistently meets your needs and expectations?

Yes, we are accredited to do both design and inspection.

As a Type C accredited Inspection Body (IB), ENEFEN has been accredited to provide first party inspections, second party inspections, or both, which form an identifiable but not necessarily a separate part of an organization involved in the design, manufacture, supply, installation, use or maintenance of the items it inspects and which supplies inspection services to its parent organization or to other parties, or to both.

Refer to CSA B149.3 Code section 5.6 which requires:

  - construction of a burner and any component parts shall be in accordance with reasonable concepts of safety, substantiality, and durability.
 - burner shall be of a design that is compatible with the intended application and shall incorporate features that will ensure safe operation.
- burner shall be provided with a means to(a)  be firmly secured in place to maintain its correct position;(b)  prevent accidental movement of any adjustable part; and(c)  maintain complete and stable combustion under all operating conditions.
 - a burner shall maintain stability of the designed flame shape, with neither flashback nor blow-­‐off, over the entire range of turndown that will be encountered during operation, when supplied with combustion air and the designed fuels in the proper proportions and in the proper pressure ranges.” 

Consequently it is ENEFEN’s interpretation of the Code and of reasonable concepts of safety, suitability and durability that it is NOT OK to:

1. not support the burner or its pilot properly
2. let the burner or pilot be misaligned in the fire tube or furnace
3. allow flame to impinge on any surfaces which are not meant to be hit by flame including heat transfer area or any other appliance parts (such as outside part of the firetube)
4. allow burner to overheat and eventually crack supporting welds
5. burn paint off any part of the appliance
6. allow burner to lose flame stability at any part of its firing range, and especially its minimum or maximum fire
7. not be able to control the combustion air flow either in forced draft or natural draft designs
8. operate outside of its design pressure range between minimum and maximum fire
9. produce high CO, deposit carbon on heat exchanger or in the stack
10. result in excessive condensation and water collection inside the appliance without proper drainage
11. produce excessive noise, vibration, puffs (explosions), smoke, visible flame, excessive surface temperatures , etc,  which may be unsafe or detrimental to the appliance itself, or to the process, personnel, public, or environment

The instrument venting requirements are described in the CSA B 149.1, CSA B149.2, and B149.3 Codes. Since the wording of these standards is somewhat convoluted we recommend for industrial installations a simpler practical guideline:

1. Vent connection size from any device shall not be reduced below the connection size of that device, but in no case shall be less than equivalent to 1/4" Sch 40 pipe ID = 0.364". (Note: We do accept 3/8" OD 0.035" wall instrument tubing although its ID is slightly smaller than that).

2. Vent lines longer than 50 ft shall be increased by one pipe or tube diameter for each additional 50 ft length, with the increase starting at the connection to the device (this means that the vent line has to be bigger from the start and not that it has to be gradually increased)

3. Vent lines shall be made of seamless steel, aluminum, or stainless steel tubing, or seamless carbon steel pipe (SCE 40 pipe is sufficient).

4. When possible each device shall be vented separately (on small skid packages this is usually simpler and less costly than building vent headers)

5. When multiple devices other than pressure relief devices (separate PSV or PSV internal to a PRV) are connected to a single vent line, this vent line shall have an area of not less than twice the total area of the connected vents. [Use formula => sqr((D1^2 + D2^2 + ....... + Dn^2)*2) ]

6.  Multiple pressure relief devices (separate PSV or PSV internal to a PRV) may be connected to a single vent line if the inlet pressures do not vary be more than 10% and this vent line has an area equal to the largest device opening plus 50% of the total area of other device openings.

7. The outdoor vent termination shall be equipped with a means to prevent the entry of water, insects and other foreign objects. (typically this means a "candy-cane" or 90EL termination pointing downwards and a screen at the outlet)

8. There shall be no valves, reductions, or other devices installed in the vent lines which could impede their operation, or in any way made them ineffective, isolated or bypassed.

9. All vents shall be terminated at a "safe location" including:
a) not directed at operators face or any part of operator's body
b) not located near walkways, driveways, stairs, access ladders, manual valves or other devices where operator's or public presence may be foreseen.
c) not terminated under the buildings, soffits or any areas where vented gas may be trapped or accumulate
d) not terminated in locations which may be covered by snow, ice, leaves, plants, or any other objects which may impede venting
e) at least 1 meter away from building openings (windows, doors, vent louvers or cut-outs, etc), appliance vent outlets, or moisture exhaust ducts
f) at least 3 meters away from mechanical air intakes (equipped with a fan), appliance air intake, or source of ignition.
g) not located so that prevailing winds, downdrafts or gas buoyancy (negative or positive) could blow the gas back towards the above "unsafe locations"
h) preferably directed "up and away" to allow any vented gas to be safely dispersed to the outside air.
i) when vented gas contains poisonous compounds (such as H2S) additional precautions shall be taken to ensure its "safe" venting, including extending the above minimum distances and/or disposing of the vent gas to appropriately sized flare headers.