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May-2019

Protecting against high pressure rupture (TIA)

The production of certain plastics such as LDPE requires demanding process conditions including pressures up to several thousand bar and temperatures over 300ËšC.

Sandra Drawe
REMBE

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Article Summary

The LDPE process is a highly exothermic reaction which is nearly impossible to control and difficult to stop. Autoclaves, tubular reactors, and process elements require special overpressure protection measures to ensure that the process is safe.

Since rapid pressure relief is required, rupture discs are a common solution to over-pressure protection, but the challenging environment in these high pressure/high temperature applications can cause traditional rupture discs to fatigue over time. The common solution for high pressure applications is a rupture discs manufactured with a weld seam. This has an influence on the burst pressure and, after installation, the applied pressure is nearly fully loaded on the welding joint. Over time the weld seam fatigues under pressure and results in an unnecessary rupture disc response which can even take place at a lower pressure than the defined burst pressure.

In comparison, REMBE HPRD rupture discs have a much longer life time than the traditional discs as the pressure load applies only on the seat of the disc. By moving the weld seam out of the pressure loaded area of the disc, the burst pressure is defined only by well controlled parameters such as material thickness and it is not influenced by the strength of the weld seam. This precise control over the rupture disc response pressure also allows the tightest burst tolerances of +/-3% and lower.

HPRD rupture discs protect various high pressure processes around the world. This long life version for high pressure applications has a lifetime which is 5-10 times higher than that of a standard rupture disc. That saves money and installation time by eliminating downtime caused by unwanted responses. An increasing number of companies are benefitting from reduced downtime and large cost savings by using a long life rupture disc in their production facilities. REMBE was recently approached by one of the leading multinational companies in this field to protect their polymer plant in Belgium and help bring them in line with European regulations on pressure equipment.

This short case study originally appeared in PTQ's Technology In Action feature - Q2 2019 issue.

For more information: sandra.drawe@rembe.de


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