2023 RETA Breeze March-April

Recently, a small leaked developed at a facility. This followed a small project to install several valves. The investigation showed that the leak was at a flange connection. A properly tightened flange connection! So, what happened? When welding the 2-bolt flange to the pipe, the welder failed to grind the weld to provide a flat sealing face for the flange bolts. While the bolt did tighten, the flange faces did not mate correctly. This created a situation where, under

• perform the required pressure test. It becomes very easy to get lost in the glory of past successes. “Complacency = Injury”. No one in our facility should be hurt performing maintenance or construction. Follow procedures, never take short cuts. Many times, regulations are spawned from past incidents. In layman’s terms if we can’t get our stuff straight, we will receive increased regulations until we do. A friend recently explained it like this. “Don’t hate the regulator, hate the “person”who caused the accident, that prompted the regulator to change the code”. Take the time to be safe! The author, VernM. Sanderson, is a past RETA president and author of “Functional Standard operating Procedures for the Ammonia Refrigeration Industry”.

pressure, the flange would leak. So how can this be avoided? • Keep the weld out of the bolt and nut path.

WELDED FLANGES LESSONS LEARNED:

• make sure the mating surface is clean and flat. Regrinding should be done if necessary but kept to a minimum. If the flange has too much slag and splatter, refit a new flange. • Utilize a 4-bolt flange to minimize potential risk where possible.

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