Flange Facing: Types and importance

Flange Facing: Types and importance
After welding, flanges are the second most reliable way of connecting. The valves system is the most efficient method. Flange facers give a high level of flexibility to the maintenance of appropriate systems by allowing for quicker disassembly and greater access to system components.

What is Flange Facing?
Flange facing is a type of machining maintenance performed on flange surfaces. Flange facers that are adequately maintained and repaired regularly help to avoid leaks and corrosion. These services guarantee that old flanges retain their joint integrity.



Oil and gas, petrochemicals, pharmaceutical manufacture, pipelines, and power generation necessitate flange facing more frequently than other sectors.

As contact surfaces for the sealing gasket material, many types of flange facers are employed. ASME B16.5 and B16.47 describe numerous types of flange facings, including the raised face, huge male and female facings with equal dimensions to offer a relatively wide contact area, and the small male and female facings.
   
These standards also include big and small tongue-and-groove flange facings and joint ring facings designed especially for ring joint type metal gaskets.


Types of Flange Facing
Flange facing systems can be mounted in three different ways: ID mounting, OD mounting and surface mounting. 



ID Mounting (Internal Diameter) - Within the machine, clamp legs are inserted inside the flange facers in ID mounting. 

OD Mounting (Outside Diameter) - With the machine externally placed around the flange, the clamp legs are pulling inwards in OD.



Surface Mounting - It involves mounting electronic components to the surface of a PCB rather than inserting components via holes, as is done in traditional assembly.


What’s The Need of Flange Facing
Flange facers are constantly damaged by turbulent flow and interactions with other components during construction, installation, or cuts caused by gasket leakage.

Flange facing is used to give flanges a spiral grooved finish. Since gases and liquids are forced to move in a lengthy spiral route rather than over the flange face, this finish makes flanges less prone to leaks. During plant shutdowns or maintenance, flange facing is regarded as one of the most significant repair operations.

Importance of Gasket for Flange Facing

The gaskets, also known as sealings, are the materials used to seal the two circular mating parts and prevent leaks.
These are often used at the flanges of mating pipes of various fluids or pressure vessels to form a static seal and make
the system totally leak-resistant in all operating and weather circumstances.

A gasket's primary function is to prevent leaks between two mating pieces. A gasket must be squeezed sufficiently to
establish a barrier to develop a pressure-tight seal and prevent the inside fluids from leaking out. A gasket also protects a
mechanical system's moving parts by keeping them from rubbing against hard surfaces and producing friction.
Types of Finishes

Stock Finish
The gasket contact surface is commonly made by a continuous (also referred to as phonographic) spiral groove
produced by 1.6mm radius round-nose tool at a feed rate of 0.8mm per revolution and a depth of 0.15mm The roughness will be between Ra 3.2 and 12.5 micrometres (125 – 500 microinch).

Smooth Finish
There should be no noticeable tool markings visible to the naked eye. This is commonly accomplished by forming
the gasket contact surface with a continuous (also known as phonographic) spiral groove made by a 0.8mm radius round-nosetool at feed rate of 0.3mm per revolution and a depth of 0.05mm. The roughness will be between Ra 3.2 and 6.3 micrometres
(125 – 250 microinch).



Hydrogen Service FinishFlanges in hydrogen service have an extremely smooth surface, often ranging between Ra 2 and 3.2 micrometres (79 – 125 microinc

Cold Water FinishThe flange face has a mirror-like appearance. This flange finish is often utilised with metal-to-mecontact, i.e. without a gasket. It is seldom employed in the oil, petrochemical, and associated sectors.

Serration on the Flange Face

The flange face contains tiny grooves. Serrations are the name given to this type of machining. The flange face might be smooth or serrated. The kind of face to use is determined by the type of gasket and fluid service.
Metallic gaskets have a smooth finish, but non-metallic gaskets have a serrated surface. This serration is filled with soft gasket material, preventing liquid or gas from entering through the flange joint.
Sunny Steel can be spiral or concentric rings. When the fluid has a very low density, the finishing method of concentric rings is applied. If you employ a spiral type finish with a very low-density fluid, a leaking channel may be found through the spiral hollow.
The serration of the flange facers is given in RMS (Root Mean Square) or AARH (Arithmetic Average Rough Height), with 120-250 AARH being the most frequent figure. The flange serration is checked using a comparator gauge.

Bottom Line 

So, this was all about flange facing. Since flanges are so crucial in the oil and gas industries, the bulk of flange facing tools is pneumatically propelled. However, some of the tools are also electrically and hydraulically operated to give alternatives for other sectors. Moreover, Hydraulically powered flange facers  tend to offer faster operation as they are used with a Hydraulic power pack.


Content Sources :- ABSGroup


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