NMX‑ABT‑600 / Rev 00 / GCR 2014 · 600 bar CLASS / Noida · India 2026 · Product Page

NMX-ABT-600 · ENGINEERED TO ORDER — CYLINDER REQUALIFICATION FACILITIES

A cylinder doesn’t pass by surviving. It passes by measuring.

Name: HP Air Bottle Test & Requalification Facility
Brand: Neometrix

A complete HP air bottle test & requalification facility — the six-station line that takes a service cylinder from arrival back to certified service under the Gas Cylinder Rules 2014: PLC shot blasting, machine de-valving, internal inspection, water-jacket hydrostatic testing where the verdict is measured permanent expansion, drying, revalving and recharge through a 600 bar-class booster train. Engineered to order — no delivered facility is claimed on this page.

Enquire — test facilities Capability sheet (PDF)

Illustrative image, not a delivered installation — the hydro test bay of a cylinder requalification facility: a vertical water-jacket test vessel set into the floor with its lid open, a plain steel air bottle suspended above it from a small hoist, a hydraulic power pack and gauge panel beside it, in a clean workshop bay

Fig · 01 The water-jacket hydro bay — where expansion is measured, not guessed — illustrative, not a delivered installation

Pressure class

600bar kit

Governed by

GCR2014

Line

6stations

Charge cutoff

605bar auto

Feed air

415+20 CFM

ISO 9001 / 14001 Engineered to order Gas Cylinder Rules 2014 CCOE approval support in scope Noida · India

Overview

Holding pressure proves nothing. Springing back does.

Every high-pressure cylinder in service — on a ship, under an aircraft shelter, in a fire station — is living on a statutory clock. When its date comes up, the Gas Cylinder Rules require a periodic test, and the test is subtler than most people expect: the cylinder is not asked merely to survive test pressure. It is asked to prove, by measurement, that it is still elastic.

Illustrative image, not a delivered installation — the preparation side of a cylinder requalification line: an enclosed shot blasting cabinet, a bench-mounted bottle valve screwing machine with a clamped plain steel cylinder, and a rack of freshly cleaned bare-metal air bottles standing upright

Fig · 02 Shot blast, de-valve, inspect — the line before the test — illustrative, not a delivered installation

In the water-jacket method, the cylinder is sealed inside a water-filled jacket and pressurised internally. As it swells, it displaces jacket water — a direct reading of total volumetric expansion. Release the pressure, and whatever displacement does not come back is permanent expansion: plastic set, the signature of metal that has stopped behaving elastically. Exceed the permitted percentage and the bottle is condemned — even if it held the pressure without complaint.

The rest of the line exists so that this one measurement is honest. Shot-blast first, because scale and old paint hide cracks from inspection and stamps must be struck on bare metal. De-valve by machine, because a valve removed with a pipe wrench and refitted by feel is how threads and necks are ruined. Dry thoroughly, because water left inside a breathing-air bottle is corrosion on a schedule. Then revalve, recharge, stamp, rack.

Skip a station and the certificate is theatre. The line is the integrity of the stamp.

Engineered to Order

Quoted against repeated naval requirements

This facility class has been quoted against repeated Indian naval requirements — the same complete-line requirement floated twice, two years apart — alongside vertical hydro assemblies and valve hydro stations. No delivered facility is claimed; station count, pressure class and layout are settled at design review.

The Whole Line

Six stations, one verdict

PLC shot blasting · machine de-valving · internal inspection · water-jacket hydro bed with power pack · drying and revalving · recharge through a booster train with 605 bar automatic cutoff — plus storage racks and nitrogen sets, installed, cabled, earthed and commissioned at the yard.

The Statute

Built for Gas Cylinder Rules 2014

The Rules fix the periodicity, the method and the record-keeping; the station’s recognition is what makes its stamps mean anything. Technical support and consultancy for CCOE approval is carried in the scope of supply — support for approval, never approval claimed in advance.

The Line

Arrival to certified service, station by station.

The schematic below follows one bottle through the line — and the detail panel follows the air that recharges it, from the compressor to the 605 bar cutoff.

FIG · 03REQUALIFICATION LINE · BLAST · DE-VALVE · INSPECT · HYDRO · DRY · RECHARGE · STAMP

Fig · 03 The verdict sits mid-line: measured permanent expansion in the water jacket — everything before it prepares the truth, everything after it returns the bottle to service

Arc · 01

Surface & Valve Preparation

A PLC-controlled shot blasting machine strips the exterior to bare metal — inspection cannot see through scale, and the requalification stamp must be struck on clean steel. A dedicated screwing/un-screwing machine then removes the valve at controlled torque, protecting a thread that must seal again at service pressure for years.

Arc · 02

The Water-Jacket Hydro Bed

The hydraulic test bed and power pack pressurise the bottle inside its water jacket; displaced water reads total expansion, and the residue after release is the permanent expansion that decides pass or condemn — the method the Gas Cylinder Rules 2014 prescribe for periodic testing. 600 bar-class valves and gauges throughout.

Arc · 03

The Recharge Train

Feed compressors of 415 and 20 CFM drive an air-operated liquid pump/booster through a 5 µm filter-regulator; the outlet carries a check valve and an automatic pilot cutoff set at 605 bar, with 600 bar-rated needle valves on the distribution — so a charged bottle is a deliberate event, not an operator’s reflexes.

Arc · 04

Installed as a Working Yard Facility

Foundations to 5 t/m² with approved design, underground and tray cabling, erection, alignment, earthing; O&M manuals, test certificates, GA and as-fitted drawings; joint acceptance trials with deficiencies rectified at no cost; bottle storage racks and nitrogen sets completing the line.

Have a cylinder testing, requalification or hydro facility requirement? Send it across — clause-by-clause compliance matrix within two working days · [email protected]

Send tender spec

Specifications

Reference facility, sized to your fleet of bottles.

The parameters below describe the reference naval-yard line. Station count, pressure class, throughput and layout follow from the bottle population, its test periodicity and the site.

Illustrative image, not a delivered installation — the recharge side of a cylinder test facility: a wall panel carrying plain round pressure gauges, needle valves and stainless tubing above a compact booster unit, with a row of plain steel air bottles strapped in a storage rack alongside

Fig · 04 Charging panel and the racked bottles — the end of the line — illustrative, not a delivered installation

Where requalification actually fails

Rarely at the pump. It fails at the bookkeeping of truth: a bottle tested through paint that hid a gouge; a valve refitted with damaged threads that weeps for years; water left inside because drying was rushed; an expansion reading taken on a jacket that was never calibrated.

That is why the facility is a line and not a pump in a corner — each station closes one of those doors. And it is why the station itself must be recognised under the Rules: the stamp on the bottle’s shoulder is only as good as the facility’s own paperwork, which is exactly what the acceptance trials and CCOE-approval support in the scope exist to establish.

Full specification — expand

Facility	HP air bottle test & requalification facility — supply, installation, testing and commissioning of the complete line: hydraulic test bed & power pack, nitrogen/air charging facility, PLC shot blasting machine, bottle screwing/un-screwing machine, bottle storage racks, nitrogen bottle sets
Governing Rules	Periodic testing of gas bottles per the Gas Cylinder Rules 2014 · technical support & consultancy for CCOE approval of the station carried in the scope of supply — support for approval, not approval claimed
Hydro Test Bed	Hydraulic test bed & power pack for water-jacket periodic testing · jacket fill and test circuits · verdict by measured permanent volumetric expansion after depressurisation · 600 bar-class fittings and instrumentation
Pressure Kit	HP needle valves 600 bar WP · automatic pilot cutoff at booster outlet set 605 bar · booster outlet check valve (3 bar) · gauges 0–21 and 0–25 kg/cm², bar & psi scales
Charging Train	Air-driven liquid pump / booster · feed compressors 415 CFM + 20 CFM · air-line filter-regulator 5 µm, 1–16 bar operating, 0.5–12 bar regulation, ±0.2 bar hysteresis, manual rotary condensate drain
Surface Preparation	PLC-controlled shot blasting machine — exterior stripped to bare metal before inspection and stamping
Valve Handling	Dedicated bottle screwing / un-screwing machine — valve removal and refit at repeatable torque, protecting neck threads that must seal at service pressure
Storage & Sets	Purpose-built bottle storage racks (set of 5) · nitrogen bottles (set of 5) · safe handling arrangements for HP bottles, pipelines and valves
Installation	Foundations on suspended flooring to 5 t/m² with design approved before construction · foundation bolts · power cabling partly underground in GI pipe with glands, partly on trays · erection, alignment, earthing · floor restored
Documentation	3 sets O&M manuals (hard & soft) · inspection, trial and test certificates · warranty certificates · GA and as-fitted drawings · parts identification list · PERT-based project control
Acceptance	Standard tests and commissioning trials at handover · joint inspection at the user’s premises · deficiencies rectified without additional cost or time
Facility Class	Naval-yard complete line (reference) · vertical hydro test assemblies · HP valve hydro test stations to the 1,200 kg/cm² class · acoustic-emission screening rigs
Status	Engineered to order — reference configuration, not yet built · quoted against repeated naval requirements · station count, pressure class and layout settled at design review

PDF · 1 page

HP Air Bottle Test Facility — Capability Sheet

Tender Response

Send your specification — compliance matrix in two working days

Variants

One discipline, four facility shapes.

Tenders call this a bottle test facility, a hydro test assembly, a valve test station or a requalification centre. The discipline — controlled pressure, measured expansion, honest paperwork — is common to all of them.

Var · 01

Complete Requalification Line

The reference configuration — blast, de-valve, inspect, water-jacket hydro, dry, revalve, recharge, rack — installed and commissioned as one working facility at a yard or depot.

Var · 02

Vertical Hydro Test Assemblies

Compact vertical test stands for facilities that already own preparation equipment — the jacket, bed and power pack as a station rather than a line.

Var · 03

HP Valve & Component Hydro Stations

Hydrostatic proof stations for valves and fittings to the 1,200 kg/cm² class — the same pressure discipline applied to the components rather than the bottles.

Var · 04

Acoustic-Emission Screening

AE instrumentation rigs that listen to a pressurised bottle for the signature of growing flaws — a screening layer for large bottle populations between full hydro cycles.

Applications

Where it applies.

Wherever populations of high-pressure cylinders live on a statutory test clock.

A · 01Naval yards & ship repair organisations — shipboard HP air bottle populations

A · 02Air bases — aircraft and ground-equipment bottle requalification

A · 03Fire services — breathing-apparatus cylinder test stations

A · 04Industrial gas plants & cylinder filling stations — statutory periodic testing

A · 05Diving & offshore operations — breathing-air cylinder fleets

A · 06Valve & fitting manufacturers — hydrostatic proof stations

FAQ

Common questions.

Plain-language answers from the engineering team.

Q · 01 Why measure expansion instead of just holding test pressure?

Because a cylinder can hold pressure right up to the day it fails. Steel that has been fatigued, corroded from the inside or overheated loses elasticity before it loses strength — it stretches further under the same pressure, and some of that stretch stops coming back. The water-jacket test turns that early warning into a number: the jacket reads total expansion while the bottle is at test pressure, and the displacement that remains after release is the permanent expansion. The Rules set a limit on that permanent set as a percentage of the total, and a bottle beyond it is condemned even though it never leaked, never burst, and would happily have accepted the next fill. The test is designed to retire cylinders one inspection cycle before the incident, not after it.

Q · 02 Why does the line start with shot blasting?

Because the two things that happen after it — inspection and stamping — both require bare metal. External corrosion pits, gouges from handling, arc strikes and fire damage are all condemnable findings, and every one of them hides comfortably under old paint and rust scale. Blasting strips the surface uniformly and quickly, and doing it under PLC control gives repeatable coverage without an operator hand-holding every bottle. It also serves the end of the process: the requalification stamp and date must be struck cleanly on the shoulder where the next inspector can find and read them years later. A line that skips surface preparation is inspecting the paint, not the pressure vessel.

Q · 03 Why does valve removal deserve its own machine?

Because the valve-to-neck joint is the most abused connection on a cylinder, and the most expensive to get wrong. Valves are fitted at high torque into tapered or parallel neck threads; removing one with a pipe wrench and a cheater bar twists necks, scores threads and cracks valve bodies — damage that either scraps the bottle or, worse, survives unnoticed and weeps in service. A screwing/un-screwing machine clamps the bottle safely, applies controlled torque about the right axis, and refits the valve to specification afterwards. On a facility that will process bottles by the hundred, it also removes the slowest, most injury-prone manual task from the line. The thread that must seal at service pressure for the next several years is handled by a machine that cannot get tired or impatient.

Q · 04 What do the Gas Cylinder Rules 2014 actually require?

In essence: that every cylinder in service is periodically examined and tested by a recognised facility, by prescribed methods, on a prescribed calendar, with records kept and the cylinder marked. The Rules cover the examination scheme — external and internal inspection, hydrostatic or hydrostatic-stretch testing as applicable to the cylinder type — the intervals between tests, the marking of the test date, and the condemnation criteria. Crucially, they also govern the station: testing only counts if performed at a facility recognised by the statutory authority, which is why support for CCOE approval is part of this scope of supply. The Rules are public law; what a buyer procures is a facility engineered so that compliance is the path of least resistance rather than an act of discipline.

Q · 05 Why does a test facility include a charging train?

Because a yard does not send bottles away to be tested — it sends them away to come back ready for service, and ready means charged. The recharge train closes the loop: feed compressors drive an air-operated liquid pump/booster through fine filtration, and the bottle is refilled to its service pressure with the discipline the rest of the line taught — an automatic pilot cutoff at 605 bar means the fill terminates by design rather than by an operator watching a gauge, a check valve holds the line, and 600 bar-rated needle valves meter the distribution. The same train serves the nitrogen bottle sets the facility keeps for its own operations. A test line without recharge simply relocates the queue; with it, a bottle arrives from a ship and returns to the ship finished.

Q · 06 Do you build the facility or integrate bought-in machines?

Both, and honestly divided. Compressors and the air-driven liquid pump are proprietary machines from established makers, and the shot-blasting cabinet builds on proven blast-machine practice — nobody should reinvent those. What Neometrix engineers is the facility: the hydro test bed and its power pack, the water-jacket arrangement, the charging and distribution panels with their protection ladder, the screwing-machine station, the racks, the pipework, the foundations and cabling and earthing, and the commissioning that turns six machines into one line. The scope also carries the paperwork that makes the facility real to the authority — documentation, acceptance trials, and technical support for CCOE approval. To be plain about status: this configuration is quoted against repeated naval requirements, and no delivered facility is claimed on this page.

↗

The cylinder’s whole life, on one site.

Charging, requalification and type-test destruction — engineered at our Noida facility.

↗ Charging

Mobile Gas Compression Unit

Fills the bottles this facility requalifies — 90–350 bar, breathing-class purity.

↗ Type Test

Burst Chamber for Cylinder Testing

Destructive type testing — the far end of a cylinder’s life.

↗ Components

Hydrostatic Test Bench

Proof testing for valves and components — the bench-scale sibling.

Browse all Neometrix product lines.

Get a quotation

Send your bottle population
and its test calendar.

The Defence Programmes desk replies within two working days with a clause-by-clause compliance matrix and a budgetary quotation. Write to [email protected] or use the form.

Enquire — test facilities Capability sheet (PDF) +91 7777 876 876

ISO 9001 / 14001 ENGINEERED TO ORDER — CYLINDER REQUALIFICATION FACILITIES GAS CYLINDER RULES 2014 · CCOE SUPPORT IN SCOPE ENGINEERED IN NOIDA · INDIA

A cylinder doesn’t pass by surviving. It passes by measuring.

Holding pressure proves nothing. Springing back does.

Quoted against repeated naval requirements

Six stations, one verdict

Built for Gas Cylinder Rules 2014

Arrival to certified service, station by station.

Surface & Valve Preparation

The Water-Jacket Hydro Bed

The Recharge Train

Installed as a Working Yard Facility

Reference facility, sized to your fleet of bottles.

Where requalification actually fails

One discipline, four facility shapes.

Complete Requalification Line

Vertical Hydro Test Assemblies

HP Valve & Component Hydro Stations

Acoustic-Emission Screening

Where it applies.

Common questions.

The cylinder’s whole life, on one site.

Mobile Gas Compression Unit

Burst Chamber for Cylinder Testing

Hydrostatic Test Bench

Send your bottle population
and its test calendar.

Similar Products

Share This Page

A cylinder doesn’t pass by surviving. It passes by measuring.

Holding pressure proves nothing. Springing back does.

Quoted against repeated naval requirements

Six stations, one verdict

Built for Gas Cylinder Rules 2014

Arrival to certified service, station by station.

Surface & Valve Preparation

The Water-Jacket Hydro Bed

The Recharge Train

Installed as a Working Yard Facility

Reference facility, sized to your fleet of bottles.

Where requalification actually fails

One discipline, four facility shapes.

Complete Requalification Line

Vertical Hydro Test Assemblies

HP Valve & Component Hydro Stations

Acoustic-Emission Screening

Where it applies.

Common questions.

The cylinder’s whole life, on one site.

Mobile Gas Compression Unit

Burst Chamber for Cylinder Testing

Hydrostatic Test Bench

Send your bottle populationand its test calendar.

Similar Products

Share This Page

Send your bottle population
and its test calendar.