Clamshell emergency repair in a refinery
MACOGA has manufactured in a record time a clamshell oversize bellows for immediate installation in a refinery in the south of Europe.
A leaking FCCU Pressure Balanced Expansion joint was endangering the proper operation of the FCCU and activity of the refinery.
The clamshell bellows DN1700 is supplied in 3 sections and is made of Inconel 625 LCF.
An oversize clamshell expansion joint is the best solution to sealing a leaking bellows while keeping the plant on line. Over-size-clamshell bellows is installed on top of the current bellow while the system operates. The leaking bellows are encapsulated by adding split rings with a larger outside diameter than the leaking bellows on either side of the leaking bellows. These split rings are used to locate the new oversize bellows.
Advantages of over-size clam-shell bellows:
- Installation/assembly is possible while the pipeline operates.
- The down time on the pipeline or heat exchanger is minimized which results enormous cost-savings.
- On heat exchangers or penetration seals on boilers internal pipes do not need to be removed.