G-Range Hub Clamp Connectors

The Destec G-Range pipe connection is built for plant operators who need a lighter, more reliable alternative to a standard flanged joint, without giving up leak tightness. It is designed primarily for demanding pressure and temperature duties, but its ease of installation and assembly also make it a good fit for more modest applications, particularly compared with aligning and tightening a full set of flange bolts. Each connection is made up of a pair of hubs welded to the pipe, a clamp set that rotates around the hubs for practical positioning, and a seal ring. The seal ring itself is a modified cone ring, and on assembly the taper joint faces compress it radially. The stored energy in the seal ring provides the sealing force, and any internal pressure only intensifies that seal. Using high strength alloy clamps and flush bore seal rings keeps fluid seal areas and make-up loads low, giving a smaller, more compact unit than an equivalent flange. The seal ring's flexibility also handles cold quench conditions and thermal cycling well, which is where most conventional compressible joints run into leakage problems.

Standard materials cover carbon steel, carbon manganese steel, 316 stainless, duplex and super duplex, with seal rings coated in PTFE, molybdenum disulphide or graphite depending on the application, and special connections available in materials such as duplex steels and nickel-based alloys. The range covers heavy duty, nozzle, threaded, socket weld, reducing, enlarging, tee, elbow and adaptor hubs, plus orifice, transition and blind seal rings, and heavy duty or quick release clamp sets. Special versions are also available, including shrouded bore, jacketed, flow through jacketed, extreme pressure, quick release, remotely operated, hinged vessel closure and orifice connection variants, and Destec will design bespoke G-Range connections to meet specific customer requirements. The seal rings are reusable: on dismantling they revert to their original form, ready to go back in, and every seal ring of a given size is interchangeable with no pre-fitting needed. Existing troublesome flange joints, along with vessel and heat exchanger closures, can usually be converted on site to use a Destec seal ring, and Destec seal rings are already in service up to 2m in diameter.