Technology in Action
become invalid for these expanded flange systems as the equations underlying these standards do not take any additional components into account. All of the required calculations stated above for con - figuring the installation torque cannot currently be performed with sufficient precision using analytical cal - culation principles. To take into account the complexity and the ever-greater challenges of the configuration of the installation torque, REMBE uses virtual engineering with the finite elements method. This makes it possible to depict the flange system, including all (additional) components, as a digital twin and thus simulate its mechanical behaviour before manufacture and commis - sioning. With this digital twin, the mutual influences of all of the components are thus taken into account in advance before being brought together in reality.
The optimum installation torque
Determining the required installation torque for a tight flange system is a daily challenge for industrial valve manufacturers and plant operators alike. All of the components in the flange system have their individual installation requirements. Environmental requirements, according to evidence from TA Luft for example, add further difficulty to the project. Collaboration between manufacturers of individual components and the plant operator for a holistic approach is crucial to bringing everything into harmony. T he German rupture disc manufacturer REMBE already recognised this task at an early stage and has long been committed to complying with its customers’ installation requirements. What exactly this challenge entails and what possible solutions are available are described in this article. T here are generally different approaches to selecting the required installation torque. Alongside manufac - turer information for individual components, there are calculation standards such as DIN EN 1591-1 or the AD 2000 set of rules, with which conventional flange systems can be calculated analytically. A conventional flange system (see Figure 1 , left), according to the stated calculation standards, is defined as a flange inlet (flange I), flange outlet (flange O), gasket and connecting ele - ments (such as bolts). In practice, a flange system is often expanded by additional components ( see Figure 1 , right). This can be a pressure protection mecha - nism, such as a rupture disc. A rupture disc is usually installed with a mounting unit ( from now on called a holder), consisting of a holder inlet (holder I) and holder outlet (holder O). A second gasket (gasket I) is also required. In this case, four additional components must be taken into account at once. T he conventional/stated calculation standards
REMBE Contact: kerstin.lenze@rembe.de
A circular solution to plastic waste
Sulzer Chemtech has finalised an agreement with Encina Development Group, LLC. Sulzer will provide technology to recover high purity circular aromat - ics from cracked oil products derived from Encina’s mixed-plastics-to-aromatics catalytic conversion plat - form. Encina’s 1000 tpd waste plastics recycling facility will be located in Northeast US and is expected to be operational in 2024. Encina has developed a catalytic platform wherein the cracked products selectively contain high levels of circular aromatics and other valuable byproducts. Sulzer Chemtech will provide hydrotreating and aro - matics extraction technology (SuRe BTX) to recover high purity circular benzene and toluene. Sulzer’s flagship aromatic
extraction technology (GT-BTX) has been deployed worldwide for aromatics recovery from refor - mate and naphtha cracked pyrol - ysis, with more than 70 licences sold. This is the first commercial application of this technology where waste plastics are used as feedstock within a circular chem - ical solution to help resolve a global environmental issue. Carlo Badiola, Senior VP of Engineering and Technology at Encina, comments: “We selected Sulzer Chemtech and its SuRe BTX technology due to the compa - ny’s leading expertise in aromatic
Force CF
Connection ange 0- holder
Flange outlet
Flange inlet
Gasket inlet/outlet
Connection disc - holder
Flange outlet with one gasket
Flange inlet
Connection ange 1- holder
Force CF
Figure 1 Comparison of conventional flange system (left) and flange system with rupture disc and holder (right)
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