18-09-2012

Complete line of ceramic ferrule technology available

Blasch Precision Ceramics, Inc. announces the availability of a complete line of waste heat boiler tubesheet ferrule products to augment its patented, one-piece, precast, hexagonal head ferrule.   

New Blasch offerings address conditions that make it possible for process operators to utilize the engineered expansion management system of the original ferrule design. The one-piece hex ferrule design, now more than a decade old, has been used in hundreds of successful installations in a wide variety of chemical applications worldwide.    

Deployment of this design has been limited, however, to protection of tubesheets with reasonable dimensional accuracy, a uniform tube layout, and relatively consistent furnace operating parameters.   

Now there are a number of options available that allow users to address lower precision tubesheets along with less controlled processes.  The new configurations all retain the same proven reliable ferrule expansion management system along with flow path features that aid in process optimization. Both Type A: the standard 1-piece Precast Ferrule, and Type B: the 2-piece Precast Ferrule- are produced with Blasch’s patented Engineered Expansion Joint Design. Segmenting the ferrule increases the available expansion management capacity while maintaining the unique Blasch fiber seal mechanism. The  new designs are used in cases where the tubesheet may be older, but still reasonably accurate, or where there is less room between the ferrule and the tube ID than desired, or where temperature swings are greater than desired. They are also, used in cases where the customer specifies only a 2-piece ferrule be used.  

The third Type C: Overlapping Precast Ferrule design is used in cases where the tubesheet is old enough to pre-date CNC machining, or damaged, and is not accurate enough to calculate any sort of reliable ferrule closure. This design allows for maximum lateral movement of the ferrules while still ensuring a tight and retained fiber seal.   

The Blasch family of precast ferrule systems allow for much greater design flexibility than traditional cast refractory systems because the mechanical and insulating functions of the system are separated, and are addressed separately by the cast refractory shape, and the fiber backup respectively.  Traditional metal ferrules in a wide range of alloys are also offered in applications where high temperatures, erosion and corrosion are less significant in operations.

For more information, please visit petrochemical.blaschceramics.com