WHAT IS A GASKET?

A Gasket is sealing material placed between connecting flanges to create a static seal, which will
maintain the leakage proof sealing in all operating conditions. Different types of gaskets are used to achieve
the leak proof sealing between the pipe flange. The primary function of gaskets is to seal the irregularities of
each face of the flange so that there will be no leakage of the service fluid from the flange joint.
 WHY GASKETS ARE USED?
A leak from the flange joint can be disastrous. A flange leak results in loss of product and energy. No plant
operator wants leaking of toxic or hazardous material that can harm human and environment. The gasket can help
in achieving reliable sealing to prevent the leak from the flange joints.

Types of Gaskets to be used in given fluid service is depends on the parameters such as
Temperature – Gasket material must withstand entire design temperature range of the fluid it handles.
Pressure – Gasket material must withstand entire design pressure range of the fluid it handles.
Corrosion resistance – Gasket material should not corrode when it comes in contact with the fluid it handles or
by the environmental exposure.
Types of fluid – Gasket material should be capable of dealing with different type of fluids if installed in line that
handles more than one types of fluids.
Robustness – The gasket must be capable of withstanding all movement that may occur due to change in
temperature and pressure.
Availability – Gasket should be easily
Cost – Cheap and unreliable gasket should not be used at the same time it should not be costly.
 SELECTION OF GASKET
•Proper selection of gasket depends upon following factors.
•Compatibility of the gasket material with the fluid.
•Ability to withstand the pressure-temperature of the system.
•The service life of the gasket

It is important to understand the requirements of particular applications before making gasket selection. Gaskets must
maintain a seal for an acceptable period against all the operational forces involved. There are eight important
properties which any gasket must possess to achieve this –

Impermeability – The gasket should not be porous to the fluid being sealed.
Compressibility – The gasket should compress into the imperfections on the flange sealing faces to create the initial
seal.
Stress relaxation (creep resistance) – The gasket should not show significant flow (creep) when subjected to load
and temperature. Such flow will allow the bolts to relax, reduce gasket surface stress and cause leakage.
Resilience – Although normally stable, flanges do in fact move slightly relative to one another under the influence of
cycling temperature and pressure. The gasket should be capable of compensating for such movements.
Chemical resistance – The gasket should withstand chemical attack from the process medium being handled.
Likewise, the gasket material itself must not contaminate the process medium.
Temperature resistance – The gasket should be able to withstand the effects of the maximum and minimum
temperatures within the process and the external atmospheric temperatures.
Anti-stick – The gasket has to be easily removable after use.
Anti-corrosion – The gasket must not cause corrosion of the flange faces.
 TYPES OF GASKETS

There are three types of gaskets used in process piping.

•Non-Metallic
•Metallic
•Composite

Non-Metallic Metallic – Ring Gasket Composite

Compressed Non-Asbestos RTJ Gasket Spiral Wound Gaskets
Fibre Gasket (CNAF)
PTFE Gasket Plug Gasket Camprofile Gaskets
Rubber Gasket - Metal Jacketed Gasket
- - Insulation Gasket Kit
 NON-METALLIC GASKET

Most common materials used for this type of gaskets are Graphite, Rubber, Teflon, PTFE and Compressed Non-
Asbestos Fiber (CNAF). These gaskets are also known as a Soft gasket.
It can be full face or inside bolt circle type
•Non-Metallic gaskets can easily compress with low tension bolting
•These types of gaskets are used with low-pressure class flanges such as 150 and 300 Class and also in low-
temperature However, graphite gasket can be used up to 500 Degree centigrade.
•Rubber and elastomer gaskets are not used in hydrocarbon services but used in utility lines.
•Non-Metallic gaskets are cheapest and easily available
Full-face gasket types are suitable for flat-face (FF) flanges. Flat ring gasket types are suitable for use with raised
faced (RF) flanges.
 METAL GASKET / RING JOINT GASKET / RTJ GASKET

Metal gaskets are manufactured from a material such as Soft iron, Low Carbon steel, Stainless Steel, Monel,
and Inconel. These gaskets are also known as ring gasket or RTJ gaskets.
Metallic gaskets are used in high-pressure class flanges, normally above 900 Class, they can also be used
for high-temperature
High tension bolting is required when we used metallic gaskets.
They are very robust & most costly
The RTJ Gasket fits in a groove machined on the flange face of both mating flanges. There are four types of
the metallic gasket are used with RTJ flange R-Octagonal, R-Oval, RX and BX. You can see the difference in
their cross-section view.
 PLUG GASKETS
 
Hexagon Plugs are commonly used in combination with gasket seals to close tubes within the header of an
(Air-Cooled) Heat Exchanger and to prevent them from leaking. They are able to withstand huge pressure.
Through these tubes mostly energy (heat) is being transferred from a hot liquid (medium) to a colder liquid
(medium).
 COMPOSITE GASKET OR SEMI-METALLIC

Composite gaskets are a combination of metal and non-metal material. Different types of combination of
materials are possible based on service requirement.

Spiral wound, Metal Jacketed, and Kamprofile gasket are well known in composite gasket category. They
are used in a wide range of pressure and temperature services. Composite gaskets are cost effective with
compare to metal gaskets but Careful handling is required. Composite gaskets are used on raised face,
male-female, and tongue-and-groove flanges.
 SPIRAL WOUND GASKET

The most widely used composite type gasket is a Spiral Wound Gasket. It is suitable for wide range of pressure
and temperature class. Normally Graphite or PTFE used as filler material & stainless steel or other exotic
material is used as the winding material.

There are three components in spiral wound gasket. Inner & Outer ring, filler material, and winding material.
However, sometimes an inner ring is not used. You can see in the image spiral wound gasket with and without
inner ring. The inner ring is used to provide additional support to the winding material. The winding is an
alternative layer of filler material and winding material. The filler material is a soft material such as graphite and
PTFE and winding material is a thin sheet of metal.
 KAMMPROFILE / CAMPROFILE GASKET

Kammprofile/ Camprofile profile Gasket is having a solid metal core with concentric grooves. Filler material,
either graphite or PTFE is layered on this grooved metal ring. It is Costlier than Spiral wound gasket but
provides better blowout resistance and easy to handle even in large diameters. Kammprofile gaskets are used
in a wide variety of service fluids and operating pressure-temperatures classes from Class 150 to Class 2500
flanges.
 METAL JACKETED GASKET

In Metal Jacketed Gasket, the Soft filler material is enclosed in a thin sheet of metal jacket. There are
different ways to cover filler material as shown in the image. Jacketed gaskets are easily fabricated in a
variety of sizes and shapes and are an inexpensive gasket for heat exchangers, shell, channel, and cover
flange joints. Metal jacketed gaskets are commonly used in heat exchangers & valve.
 INSULATION KIT GASKETS

Flange Insulation Kit Gaskets are designed to combat the effects of

corrosion often found in flanged pipe system. Galvanic corrosion
between dissimilar metal flanges, flange insulation associated with
cathodic protection of underground piping are other examples where
flange insulation Kit Gasket can be put into effective use.

The Design and selection of materials used in Flange Insulation Kit

Gasket, meet the twin purpose of sealing the flanges and insulating
metal parts to prevent flow currents responsible for corrosion.

Insulation Gasket Insulation Sleeve Insulation Washer Plated Washer

Reinforced Phenolic Reinforced Phenolic

Neoprene Nylon Nylon

faced Phenolic Mineral filled Nylon Mineral filled Nylon Electro plated
steel washer
Polyethylene Polyethylene
Glass Reinforced Epoxy Glass Reinforced Epoxy Glass Reinforced Epoxy
(G-10) (G-10) (G-10)
 GASKET MATERIALS
Non-Metallic Gasket is manufactured from flexible materials. Such as Compressed Non-Asbestos fiber, PTFE,
Rubber, Mica and Ceramic fiber
List of material that can be used for metallic gaskets is given in ASME B16.20. Some of the materials are Soft iron,
Low carbon steel, 4-6% Chrome ½ Mo, Stainless steel Type 304,316,347,410 or metallic gasket can be
manufactured from Service specific material as suggested by the designer.
The only thing you have to take care is that hardness of the gasket shall always be less than flange material by at
least 50 BHN. What will happen if gasket hardness is more than flange? When you tighten the flange, the gasket will
damage the serration and will no longer hold the leak.
In a spiral wound gasket, Winding Strips are manufactured from Stainless steel material grades such as Type
304,316,347 or Exotic material such as Monel, titanium, duplex can also be used as per service requirements.
The filler material of winding can be a Flexible Graphite or PTFE depends on of service temperature of gaskets.
PTFE is not used for high-temperature services.
Outer Ring of Spiral Wound Gasket mostly manufactured from Carbon steel, whereas Inner ring is mostly
manufactured from Stainless Steel Type 304,316,321,347. Or from an Exotic material such as Monel, titanium,
duplex etc. These depend on the type of fluid inside the pipe as inner ring is in direct contact with the fluid.
Cammprofile and metal jacketed gaskets are manufactured from the same materials that used to manufacture spiral
Wound Gasket.
 DIMENSIONAL STANDARDS

Gasket dimensions are covered in the following standards.

BS 3381 – Metallic Spiral Wound Gaskets
ASME B 16.20 -Metallic Gaskets for pipe flanges
ASME B 16.21-Non-metallic Gaskets for pipe flanges.