Different Types of Manway

A Manway is an access used by laborers to offer easy entrance to vessels or storage tanks for the cleaning and maintenance reasons. It always exists on the intake air-side in gassy mines. This entrance provides a passageway for the workforces into the tanks or other types of vessels. The plates or covers are fit inside the opening of the tank or vessel and are hauled back against the seal or the external flange.

Pressure vessels play a significant role in the storage of liquids, gases, and chemicals in different industrial applications. To preserve optimal interior conditions and avoid incidences such as over-pressurization, pressure vessels need the correct type of manway. A manway is access to the pressure vessel that provides the operator's entrance to the vessel for routine maintenance.

The choice of a manway cover usually takes place as part of the custom tank structure plan and manufacturing process. An expert team of vessel engineers and manufacturers can incorporate the right type and number of manways on your pressure vessels. Some of the different types of manways are the following:

Bolted Manways

Bolted manways are the typical entrance doors for pressure vessels. These are appropriate for most applications and are generally constructed from stainless steel and carbon steel. Bolted manways also permit operators to access the vessel from the top or the side.

Quick Open Manways

A common problem with bolted manways is the sum of time and effort workers require to open the cover. On average, a worker could take 20 to 60 minutes to unfasten the bolts and a similar amount of time to keep the cover in place. If the worker's priority is to get quick access to the vessel of a pressure tank, they must go for the quick-open manways instead.

Sanitary Manways

Sanitary manways use hygienic manway covers, which are suitable for applications in which hygiene is the priority, as the food and pharmaceutical industries.