HEALTH & SAFETY VIRTUAL ENGINEERING
REMBE
Achieving the right installation torque with a virtual calculation
Determining the required installation torque for a tight flange system is a daily challenge for industrial valve manufacturers and plant operators alike . All of the components in the flange system have their own individual installation requirements . Environmental requirements , such as evidence according to TA Luft , add further difficulty to the project . The collaboration between manufacturers of individual components and the plant operator for a holistic approach is crucial to bring everything into harmony .
The German rupture disc manufacturer REMBE already recognised this task at an early stage and has long been committed to complying with its customers ’ installation requirements . What exactly this challenge entails and what possible solutions are available are described in this article .
There are generally different approaches when it comes to selecting the required installation torque . Alongside manufacturer information for individual components , there are calculation standards such as DIN EN 1591-1 or the AD 2000 set of rules , with which conventional flange systems can
The collaboration between manufacturers of individual components and the plant operator for a holistic approach is crucial to bring everything into harmony .
be calculated analytically . A conventional flange system ( see figure 1 , left ) according to the stated calculation standards is defined as a flange inlet ( flange I ), flange outlet ( flange O ), gasket and connecting elements ( e . g . bolts ). In practice , a flange system is often expanded by additional components ( cf . figure 1 , right ). This can be a pressure protection mechanism , such as a rupture disc . A rupture disc is usually installed with a mounting unit ( hereinafter called a holder ), consisting of a holder inlet
( holder I ) and holder outlet ( holder O ). A second gasket ( gasket I ) is also required . In this case , four additional components must be taken into account at once .
The conventional / stated calculation standards become invalid for these expanded flange systems as the equations underlying these standards do not take any additional components into account .
All of the required calculations stated above for configuring the installation torque cannot currently be performed with sufficient precision using analytical calculation principles . In order to take into account , the complexity and the ever greater challenges on the configuration of the installation torque , REMBE makes use of virtual engineering with the finite elements method . This makes it possible to depict the flange system including all ( additional ) components as a digital twin and thus simulate its mechanical behaviour before manufacture and commissioning . With this digital twin , the mutual influences of all of the components are thus taken into account in advance before being brought together in reality .
Fig . 1 : Comparison of conventional flange system ( left ) and flange system with rupture disc and holder ( right )
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80 PECM Issue 56