FLANGE ISOLATING GASKET KITS

[eduardoeh]

Hello everyone,

We hired a manufacturer to build a produced water treatment skid, containing a Vertical Water Skimmer tank and a Flotation Cell tank. The skid will be operating for a temporary plant for a 5 year span located near the tropical rain forest. Both tanks are of Stainless Steel and all the piping is of Carbon Steel.

Issue: SS gasket and zinc stud bolts w/o washers were used at the connection between the CS piping and the tanks SS flange. Instead of using a Flange Isolation Gasket kit they followed their standards b/c they never received the specifications.

Question: Have you guys seen this before? Is it acceptable? It is being suggested to leave it that way since it is only for relatively short term use, but I am not sure if corrosion will be a factor in a very humid environment.

Edit: I just came to realize that being that this is a on a CS skid, isolation gaskets become useless because everything is in contact because of the skid. Any comments will be much welcomed.

Thank you for anyone that responds.

 

[SJones]

External corrosion will be accelerated and you might be able to keep an eye on it by inspection. The biggest concern will be if the carbon steel within the joint region has been painted. There might be some internal issues too. One solution could be to put a stainless steel distance spool between the tank and the piping with this spool having a robust internal and external coating. Ultimately, the choice of what to do will be driven by consideration of the consequences of piping leaks and whether they are acceptable, or not.

Steve Jones
Corrosion Management Consultant

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/8/83b/b04

All answers are personal opinions only and are in no way connected with any employer.