Leakage Evaluated and Controlled from Industrial Process Pipeline by Optimum Gasket Assembly Stress

Air pollution studies for hazardous gases in Taiwan generally consider the impact on the human body, and always put the emphasis on large immobile and mobile pollution sources (like chimneys and vehicles), but they have ignore the leakage between pipelines in process industries. When hazardous materials leak imperceptibly, they increase the pathogenic risk to the workers at the workplace. Since 1937, traditional designers of gasket bolted joints have always utilized the “y” factor for seating yield, and the “m” factor for maintaining the gasket load under operating conditions as per ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. If industries still continue to utilize these simple and obsolete methods to seal flanges and attempt to reduce emission, how can they correctly select the right gasket materials and determine optimal loading as well as operating conditions to ensure required gasket sealing performance? During the last 30 years, more new gasket materials have been introduced to achieve required emission performance. The old factors are not appropriate for the new gasket materials, because there are no comparable test methods for “m” and “y”, and claims for reduced emission based on “m” and “y” cannot be verified. This study will ultimately result in a complete proposal to prevent any hazardous gas leaks in the process industries, to protect workers involved at the source of the hazardous gases, and to analyze the risk for workers.