This topic can be hotly contested by some; why is beyond me. Some businesses get lazy in their approach to process safety and convince themselves that flanged piping is cheaper (and easier) than joining the pipes using welding methods. As we have discussed, welding our PRIMARY CONTAINMENT system, such as the piping, comes with many requirements to ensure we have the proper management system to ensure our primary containment system is solid. This can scare some managers into believing that flanged piping is cheaper and easier. And to be honest, they could not be more wrong. We see vastly more LOPC events coming from flanged piping than we do welded piping and this is almost always traced back to this mindset that flange is easier/more straightforward; thus… we can do this all in-house with no special tools or training for our people. WRONG!
Look at this “manufacturer’s recommendation” (i.e., RAGAGEP) for installing their gaskets. This cut sheet is from a fatal LOPC event we were involved in way back in 2012 and has since been settled. The manufacturer is VERY CLEAR about how their product must be installed; you can guess these instructions were NOT followed and it was determined this was a causal factor in the accident.
I know the word “torque” is a 4-letter word to some, but it matters in process safety!