ALTERNATIVE SPIRAL WOUND GASKET FILLER

MATERIAL TO REDUCE FLANGE FACE

CORROSION

Paul Welsford AMIMechE, Flexitallic Ltd

OGA 2017 – Subsea UK
 >300 PLATFORMS
>8,000KM OF PIPELINES
> 1 MILLION GASKETED
FLANGE CONNECTIONS
PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION
“Every flange connection in a plant is an essential built-in weakness that allows
the overall plant to be stronger in the long-term by giving it the power to be
maintained safely and upgraded with relative ease.

All it takes is one of these weak links to not be strong enough for the whole
system to fall apart.”
- Some Smart Pipeline Engineer

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

CONTENT

• Corrosion – the hidden enemy

Corrosion: challenges & mechanisms
• Current products on the market
Where are we at?
• The New Solution
• Testing
• Summary

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

 Bolted flange
joints can be
vulnerable to
gasket
degradation and
flange face
corrosion

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

CORROSION – challenges & mechanisms

Shutdown
Detection Waste HSE Cost
(Unscheduled)

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

Traditional Sealing Materials

• Graphite is widely used for spiral wound

gaskets. An electrical conductor and highly
“noble” so promotes corrosion.
• Mica is sometimes chosen in place of graphite
however it exhibits very poor sealing
characteristics.
• PTFE is not fire safe. Associated with increasing
crevice corrosion in certain applications.

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

GALVANIC SERIES OF METALS IN SEAWATER

• Seawater is an electrolyte with well known

effects on different materials

• Graphite is the most noble, causing corrosion

of common stainless steels

• Relative position in the table, distance apart,

contact area, temperature, flow rate all affect
corrosion

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

CORROSION – challenges & mechanisms

1. Flange and gasket material remain important criteria

to avoid corrosion

2. Choosing the right gasket can have significant

impact on galvanic corrosion prevention
3. The selection of traditional gasket materials leads to
problems

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

 Market need for
new materials
combining optimum
sealing properties
and corrosion resistance

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

New Material (CORRICULITE) Development
• Formulation optimised for corrosion applications
• Inert, non-conductive filler material prevents the onset of galvanic
corrosion
• Improved sealing performance compared to graphite-filled spiral
wound gaskets
• Fire safe to API 6FB

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

PRODUCT PERFORMANCE VALIDATION

AMTEC Corrosion Electrochemical Submerged

sealing test testing evaluation testing

Measures leakage Evaluates gasket Records the Evaluates gasket

rates against a materials electrochemical sealing capacity
gasket stress with resistance to potential of sealing under “real world”
internal pressure at seawater induced materials conditions in a
different corrosion flanged connection
temperatures

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

AMTEC SEALING TEST
1.00E+02

• A flatter line in better as 1.00E+01

it indicates resilience to 1.00E+00

1.00E-01
unloading in

Leak rate [mg/m/s]

1.00E-02
service 1.00E-03

• New Material 1.00E-04

x100,000
significantly tighter than 1.00E-05
x500
both graphite and mica 1.00E-06

1.00E-07

1.00E-08
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Gasket stress [MPa]
Graphite Corriculite Mica

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

CORROSION TESTING

PTFE Isolator
THERMICULITE Control sample
PTFE Isolator
NEW MATERIAL No visible corrosion
PTFE Isolator
NEW MATERIAL No visible corrosion
PTFE Isolator
GRAPHITE Corrosion due
PTFE Isolator to presence of
graphite

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

ELECTROCHEMICAL EVALUATION
35 300

30
• The graphite gasket
250
initiates corrosion at
25
a level around half
Corrosion Potential (mA)

Voltage (mV Ag/AgCl)

200
20
that of the New
15 150
Material sample.
10
100
5

Time 50
0

-5 0

Corriculite Current (mA) Graphite Current (mA) Voltage Step (mV)

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

SUBMERGED TESTING

• https://vimeo.com/210782491
• VIDEO

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

SUBMERGED TESTING

• Flange assemblies 620

600
submerged in
580
seawater and 560
pressurized with

Pressure (psi)
540
Nitrogen. 520

• New Material (4%) 500

480
• Graphite (17%) 460
• Mica (20% in 1 hr) 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350
Time (Hours)

Corriculite Graphite Mica

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

FIRE SAFETY – API 6FB

• Pass achieved
• Zero leak rate measured

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

SUMMARY
• Addresses shortcomings of current materials on
the market.
• Extends equipment life by preventing corrosion
• Eliminates safety & environmental risks
• Reduces downtime & production losses
• Reduces costs associated with maintenance www.corriculite.com
• Maintains seal integrity even in an external fire
situation

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION

THANK YOU
ANY QUESTIONS?

www.Corriculite.com
pwelsford@flexitallic.eu

PREVENTING FLANGE FACE CORROSION