Flange design and analysis

This thesis is concerned with short comings of flange design procedures as recommended by ASME(1) (2) (3), and various alternatives suggested(5-22) to overcome the deficiencies. The role of ASME to address the minimum requirements from safety point of view is explained(25) (5).;The literature research was used to analyze catalytic cracker third stage separator expander flange failure in a local refinery.;Because of the present industrial environment due to stricter EPA controls on the fugitive emissions and the likelihood of new gasket factors being adopted by ASME, as recommended by PVRC gasket testing program(17), K-Flange(13) was used to analyze the problem. This program is capable of calculating leakage rates per PVRC recommended methods while checking adherence to ASME requirements and has the flexibility to design independent of ASME regulations.;In the course of literature research the author found lack of published material on the affect of thermal stresses on flanges. Flange(22) and K-flange are both capable of handling transient as well as steady state conditions.