We at Chemipetro supply flanges and pipe fittings made to rigorous, modern industrial standards. Precision manufactured from highly resistant alloys, they are guaranteed to give quality service. However, not all petrochemical plants are of recent construction, and this can bring major problems – especially when site owners incorporate new components, such as flanges, with legacy materials, i.e. those installed when the plant was built.

Mixing old with new material makes plant management an extremely complex task. Personnel and management must know exactly what goes where, and have set procedures for each component that they must memorise and adhere to. This was brought to the fore at many old planets, such as Shell’s Pulau Bukom refinery, located on a remote Singaporean island. The site was reportedly rife with leaking flanges, unreliable pipe fittings and other problems. Under or over-tightening flanges was often the cause – pipe flanges have to be tightened to specific torques. Insufficient inspection of older pipe fittings was another problem – and it was costing Shell dearly. Their answer was to implement a training program to give personnel a better understanding of tightening and inspection of flanges.

Shell’s Total Flange Assurance program was a short course aimed at the 200 existing staff and contractors, which became part of the induction procedure for new staff as well. Lasting one day, it included basic elements of inspecting pipe flanges; methods for assembly and hand-tightening; the importance of using the right lubricant following flange face inspection, and hand torque wrench usage and safety. By the end of the day, staff were proficient in the breaking out, inspection and reinstallation of a range of pipe flanges, using the right tightening technique. The scheme went live in May 2008 and has been a success for Shell and testament to their safety awareness.

If a fire breaks out at a refinery owing to poorly maintained or corroded pipe fittings, the results can be sudden and devastating. Plants are built to extremely high standards, and flanges are made to withstand both high temperatures and pressures – or they should be. Personnel are on duty 24 hours a day, and special detection equipment is installed, so faults and leaks should be targeted well before they become a dangerous problem. So why do some plants continue to have dangerous accidents?

The Valero oil refinery, in Texas City is still under investigation following a series of disastrous fires. The last was in December, 2009 – the second in a month, and started in a crude oil processing plant.

Despite the high number of people in the Valero plant on the morning of the fire, no-one was hurt, suggesting it broke out in an area where few personnel congregate and evacuation procedures were efficient. Refineries and other plants are full of areas like this – places where pipe flanges and fittings are installed, but rarely checked. These are the areas least likely to have sophisticated detection devices, too. Human error, laziness and over-tight budgeting constraints are common reasons why such accidents occur.  The culprits of such incidents are, quite often, leaking or corroded pipe flanges – something that is easily preventable.

One way to minimise accidents is to install the highest quality pipe fittings in areas where checks are least likely. We at Chemipetro supply high quality pipe fittings and flanges to a wide range of clients – our main customer being the petrochemical industry.