DevOps Engineer

A History Defined by Innovation

The BS&B story began over 120 years ago at the dawn of the modern energy industry in the United States. A.H. Black observed the costly and unsafe storage of oil in open earthen pits and developed the industrys first fabricated oil storage tanks. These tanks were in such demand that Black partnered with Jim Sivalls and W.G. Bryson. That successful Black, Sivalls & Bryson partnership gave rise to the BS&B name.

The BS&B commitment to innovative engineering continued over the ensuing decades to make possible the growth of the oil and gas processing industry. The BS&B name is well known for the innovative design of separators, dehydrators, heaters, treaters and other process equipment integral to the industry’s safe and efficient operations.

Research and development efforts resulted in innovations that extended well beyond the oil and gas equipment industry. The invention of the world’s first rupture disk (bursting disc) in 1931 provided a safe and reliable pressure relief mechanism to not only protect such equipment, but also a means to provide for personal protection against dangerous over pressurizations and damaging vacuum conditions.

The year 1966 brought the invention of the reverse buckling rupture disk, which offers superior resistance to operating conditions, greater accuracy, and reliability. With our development of the scored reverse buckling disk in 1972, the combination of rupture disk devices with pressure relief valves was born. Changing from a perfect seal to a full open flow area in milliseconds, the rupture disk compliments the reclosing characteristics of relief valves, enhancing pressure relief system reliability, particularly for owners and operators of hazardous and toxic materials processing and storage facilities.

With the growth in processing and handling of dry plastic materials in pellet and powder form, together with the large-scale processing of dry agricultural products, BS&B rupture disk technology was further developed to achieve the large relief areas and low set pressures required for explosion venting of combustible dust hazards. With the development of explosion suppression technology in 1993, BS&B protects the dry materials industries, from chemicals to foods, and from pharmaceuticals to power generation.

Continuing the rich history of BS&B innovation, the Buckling Pin Relief Valve (BPRVTM) was invented in 1995 and further developed to achieve ASME and CE certification in 2005. Designed to protect large piping systems from overpressure, the BPRVTM is the safety solution for the API compliant flare systems used by the oil and gas industries, marking a return to our technology roots.

BS&B technology is all around you, in transportation systems, power generation, transmission and distribution systems, medical equipment, chemical and pharmaceutical process plants, as well as the food and beverage industries. Where innovation is present, you will find BS&B technology.