Clock Spring Company, Inc. (Houston, Texas, USA), a manufacturer of engineered products for the repair and rehabilitation of pipe-based infrastructure, is expanding its business by introducing its Full Metal Gasket,† which it says delivers a permanent, zero-emissions, non-leaking seal.
“As we introduce creative solutions for maintaining the reliability of critical infrastructure, our continuing focus is on safety and environmental responsibility,” says Matthew Boucher, president and CEO. “The design of our metal-to-metal gasket is elegant in its simplicity, maintaining zero-emissions integrity under exacting conditions.”
The product is the world’s only DNV GL (Oslo, Norway) type approved gasket for zero emissions, according to the manufacturer. The gasket is manufactured from a single block of metal using the same material as the surrounding pipe and flange. As a result, the gasket shares identical characteristics and is able to expand and contract in line with the adjoining infrastructure to maintain the seal.
The corrosion-resistant gasket addresses some problems that bolted flanges cannot. According to the manufacturer, traditional gaskets can leak when the material contained in the system escapes through the pores of the gasket material. Studies show that seals between flanges are among the weakest components of piping connections. In contrast, they say this gasket eliminates the piping system’s weakest link.
The gasket design includes specially milled ridges that make up the metal-to-metal seal. The ridges deform according to the surface of the flange and seal a 0.3-mm groove. Compression produced by the V-shaped rings that create the seal make installation easy, reducing the torque required to tighten the flange by almost 70%.
When traditional bolted gasket joints are tightened excessively, the seal is often compromised, according to the manufacturer. By comparison, the gasket provides the same performance even when overtightened.
Amit Chaudhary, vice president of manufacturing at the company, says the gasket’s reliability in exacting environments offers several potential advantages.
“While many gaskets fail in extremely hot or cold conditions, the sealing capacity of this gasket reduces fugitive emissions in temperatures from -138 °C to 650 °C, delivering gas-tight reliability 10,000 times greater than the oil and gas industry requirement,” he says.
Above all, the manufacturer says the product is significant because it provides many safety benefits for industry. “The gasket’s exceptional performance vastly reduces the likelihood of an emissions-related environmental incident,” Chaudhary says.
†Trade name.
Source: Clock Spring, www.clockspring.com.