Working Pressure

Working pressure is not an exact number; it typically is a range of pressure values that can be fairly wide for some applications. For critical applications or pressure vessels designed with a relatively low safety factor, the acceptable working pressure range could be very narrow, from a minimum value to the maximum allowable working pressure.

Exceeding the maximum allowable working pressure puts the pressure vessel in a condition for which it was not intended, and a system failure could occur. It is important to stay within the working pressure range because that is what the pressure vessel was designed for.