Historically, creating and maintaining a reliable seal in bolted connections subject to load transients can be challenging. Girth flange connections commonly found on shell & tube heat exchangers can prove particularly troublesome. Especially across fixed tube sheet connections that share common, thru bolting.
Thermal gradients and pressure differentials around and across such connections, during start up and under steady state conditions can be significant. Under such conditions, legacy gasket technologies can lose resilience leading to loss of joint integrity. In addition, many exchangers operate under batch of cyclic conditions, exacerbating further the challenge of maintaining a reliable seal.
An approach based on an advanced gasket design in combination with a holistic calculation methodology has proven to be particularly effective in overcoming the challenge of maintaining long term joint integrity in such difficult applications. The advanced gasket design results in a seal structure that lends itself to minimising plastic deformation, significantly improving gasket resilience under cyclic loading conditions.
The calculation methodology considers the connection in its entirety, elastic interactions between all mechanical components for a defined set of load conditions. Output includes optimum closure force, determination of load limiting components allowing for possible joint improvement and tightness qualification.
To date, the approach has been successfully deployed in a significant number of problematic applications globally.
Date: 3rd JULY 2025
Location: Online
Time: 12 noon (for one hour).
Free Webinar Registration Link: HERE
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Shaid Rahmanwill, Application Engineer, Flexitallic Sealing Technology
Shaid Rahmanwill’s role is focused on providing Flexitallic’s customers with Engineered Sealing Solutions and verification calculations. His efforts are targeted to meet problematic, static sealing applications, improving sealing reliability. Shaid has an extensive knowledge of bolted connection and gaskets standards and static sealing technologies. These provide him with the tools and experience to meet the sealing challenges found in multiple industries and applications.
