INDANA - Affordable Safety shields

In the year 2015 Shell and Total joint venture known as Hazira LNG PVT.LTD based in Hazira, Gujarat, India decided to change all its existing Flange shields because of the end of life of shields and various maintenance concerns. This facility has cargo jetties for unloading of gas and vapor.Gas and vapor are stored in tanks at minus one hundred and sixty degrees. This gas is sent to regasification units to be shipped to customers. Our team on visiting the unit observed that they were using Kleer band Flange shields with the worm gear.These Flanges were standard ASME flanges up to size 28 inches and flange pressure rating was #600. These flanges had a lot of structure in form of jumpers and clamps welded to them.No standard flange spray guard could serve the purpose.The challenge was each flange had a different design of flange shield which would cover all external structures welded to the flanges.Initially, they planned to change approximately 100 odd flange shields.Apart f...

This industrial accident at a renowned gas unit which killed 15000 workers and left over half a million with nonfatal injuries.The mere mention of the incident sends shivers down the spine. We decided to look at it from the safety viewpoint and to find out the failures that eventually led to it. Union Carbide India Limited, Bhopal started a pesticide plant in 1970.On 3rd of December,1984 this plant released a poisonous gas into the environment, immediately killing thousands of people. This Catastrophic incident was caused by three primary causes: 1.Equipment 2. Maintenance 3.Safety System This poisonous gas known as Methyl isocyanate was stored in a tank E610 which held 42 metric tonnes of Liquid. Failures: 1. The tank was filled beyond specified maximum Safety limit of 30 MT which is 50% of the holding capacity. This led to the loss of nitrogen gas pressure which was used in emptying the tank. 2. Most of the safety equipment was not working. ...

Quaternary is the current running ice age which started 2.6 million years ago.You will be surprised to know this is the fifth ice age. The last ice age "karoo" ended as global average temperature changed around 5 degree Celsius. This brought an enormous climate change. With rapid Industrialisation and improvements in our lifestyle over the last century average temperature has increased by .75 degrees celsius. What is significant is two third of the temperature rise is after 1975. Global warming is melting glaciers and adding more and more water to the sea. The recent cyclones debbie, hurricane harvey, cyclone odhisa are all attributed to global warming. Global warming and solar radiation contribute to moving of earth's plates. This leads to earthquakes and volcanic activity. We as Industrialists or entrepreneurs have a major responsibility towards our fellow citizens and our upcoming generations to come. Environmental health and safety - EHS should not be fo...

Flange and Valve wrapping by a tape system is a real bad idea. Why? 1. This tape system needs a lot of preparation time. 2. Installation involves skilled labor from the manufacturer. 3. Once a Flange is sealed Maintenance cannot be done. - Biggest drawback. 4. Cannot be reused. 5. Too much work in form of removing the packing and tape -After a Flange leak 6. High cost associated in terms of preparation, supervision and material . 7. Installation for large number of flanges will take months. Any solution that seals the flange and is not reusable is a failure. We need to understand that flanges joints are subject to failures : 1. Gasket failure - Mechanical deterioration with time, over tightening, temperature and  2. Fastening system failure - Bolting is subject to vibrations,stress and fatigue. 3. Alignment-Improper alignment of both faces of flange often leads to a Flange failure. Solution  Flange spray safety shields are the be...

“Can we stop fluid leakage by using a flange guard?” This question has come up to us a number of times on our journey. As a Flange guard manufacturer ,”No.” Flange Guards are not used for sealing leaks. Flange guards or safety spray shields are used to contain fluid leaks from spray outs. The whole idea of sealing leaks from Flange shields is very dangerous . They are not designed to seal leaks. When you seal a safety shield it leads to pressure buildup and eventually, the pressure will lead to a blast. Flange leaks are mainly because of gasket failure, alignment problems or loosening of fasteners because of vibrations. A planned preventive maintenance schedule will minimize chances of a flange leakage. Teflon and Stainless steel safety shields are available with discharge nozzle which gives a safe passage to the fluid and can be connected to containers which can store such fluids. The discharge nozzle is required in industries which have high-temperature fuel lines. Any leaka...

Though a number of flange shields are being used in industries but one shield that has been in demand is the clear type Flange shield. The clear type shield is made of transparent inspection window which makes inspection of the flange easily possible. This also helps in detecting any leak with mere visual inspection. These shields have PTFE coated fiberglass on the both ends which have excellent chemical resistance to any hazardous material. These shields are more popular for valves, union, Bends and T piping joints. Installation of these shields is very easy and no special skills is required. Clear type shields are stitched with Yellow Kevlar rope which has a very high strength. Normal cotton threads sold in the market will not last long in case of a leak. These shields are also dielectric and are uv resistant.  Uv resistance gives the shield enhanced life even in case of exposure to sun light. These shields can withstand pressures of up to 1650 PSI with enhanced th...