Leak rates

Spiral-wound gaskets are safer than fiber gaskets because, if the bolts work loose or are not tightened correctly, the leak rate is much lower. 

Low Leak Rate If friendly equipment does leak, it does so at a low rate, which is easy to stop or control. Examples already mentioned are spiral-wound gaskets, tubular reactors, and vapor phase reactors. 

Low leak rate Spiral-wound gasket Libre gasket... 

It is generally desirable to minimize the diameter of a tubular reactor, because the leak rate in case of a tube failure is proportional to its cross-sectional area. For exothermic reactions, heat transfer will also be more efficient with a smaller tubular reactor. However, these advantages must be balanced against the higher pressure drop due to flow through smaller reactor tubes. 

Belore, R. and J. Buist, 1986, A Computer Model for Predictin Leak Rates of Chemicals from Damaj 1 Storage and Transportation Tanks, Report EE-75, Environmental Canada. 

In a later paper, Brasie (1976) gives more concrete recommendations for determining the quantity of fuel released. A leak potential can be based on the flashing potential of the full amount of liquid (gas) stored or in process. For a continuous release, a cloud size can be determined by estimating the leak rate. For a combined liquid-vapor flow through holes of very short nozzles, the leak rate (mass flow per leak orifice area) is approximately related to the operating overpressure according to ... 

The report presents the findings from the analysis of the RCP failures. Estimates of the annual frequency for the spectrum of leak rates induced by RCP seal failures and their impact on plant safety (contribution to coremelt frequency) are made. The safety impact of smaller RCP seal leaks was assessed qualitatively, whereas for leaks above the normal makeup capacity, formal PRA methodologies were applied. Also included are the life distribution of RCP seals and the conditional leak rate distributions, given a RCP seal failure the contribution of various root causes and estimates for the dependency factors and the failure intensity for the different combinations of pump designers and plant vendors. 

Estimate acceptable air leakages resulting from leakage around static and rotary seals, valves, access ports, and other items of mechanical nature required for process operation from the following equations and the specific leak rates 0 indicated in Table 6-8, which is based on w < 10 lb/hr. 

Calculate the total acceptable air leakage rate, Wj, Ib/hr by adding to the sum of the leak rates... 

Estimate air inleakage for individual system specific leak rates, 0, from Table 6-8 [22] and from (w < 5 Ib/hr)... 

Selection of a pressure gauge. The sensitivity of the pressure gauge will determine the minimum leak rate detectable ... 

Decide on the permitted leak rate. This is taken to be... 

Existing installations may not meet the requirements laid down for new installations because of minor leaks that have developed. It is necessary to relate such leak rates to the pipe environment. 

Permitted leak rates are determined by installation location ... 

Figure 30. The relationship of the seal type to the leak rate of helium for cylindrical lithium-manganese dioxide batteries.

Hafher, R.P., Brown, G.C.. Brand, M.D. (1990). Analysis of the control of respiration rate, phosphorylation rate, proton leak rate and proton motive force in isolated mitochondria using the top-down approach of metabolic control theory. Eur. J. Biochem. 188,313-319. 

Off-the-shelf catalogue sales of micro reactors have just started [15]. With an increasing number of commercial products, quality control will become more important. Brandner et al. describe quality control for micro heat exchangers/reactors at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe [23]. All manufacturing steps are accompanied by quality control and documentation. Leak rates (down to 10 mbar 1 s for He) and overpressure resistance (up to 1000 bar at ambient temperature) are measured. Under standardized conditions, the mean hydraulic diameter is determined. Dynamic tests supplement this quality control. 

U.S. EPA also determined the total quantity of liquids entering the two bottom liner systems over a 10-year time span with a constant top liner leak rate of 50 gallons/acre/day. A composite bottom liner with an intact FML accumulates around 70 gal/acre, primarily through water vapor transmission. Even with a 10-ft tear, which would constitute a worst-case leakage scenario, a composite liner system will allow 47,000-50,000 gallons/acre to enter that bottom liner over a 10-year time span. Compacted soil liners meeting the 10-7 cm/s permeability standard will allow significant quantities of liquids into the bottom liner, and potentially out of the unit over time, on the order of hundreds of thousands of gal/acre.5... 

The leak detection sensitivity refers to the minimum top liner leak rate that can theoretically be detected, collected, and removed by the LDS. The leak detection time is the minimum time needed for liquids passing through the top liner to be detected, collected, and removed in the nearest down-gradient collection pipe. In the case of a composite top liner, the leak detection time refers to the period starting at the point when liquids have passed through the compacted soil component and ending at the point when they are collected in the collection pipe. 

U.S. EPA bases its 1 gallon/acre/day leak detection sensitivity on the results of calculations that show that, theoretically, an LDS overlying a composite bottom liner with an intact FML component can detect, collect, and remove liquids from a top liner leak rate <1 gallon/acre/day. This performance standard, therefore, can be met with designs that include a composite bottom liner. Based on numerical studies, one cannot meet the leak detection sensitivity with a compacted soil bottom liner, even one with a hydraulic conductivity of 10-7 cm/s. Therefore, the emphasis of this standard is on selecting an appropriate bottom liner system. 

For a leaking can (leak rate constant, v s ) the time behaviour of the exhalation is complicated. Equation 2 has to be revised to... 

Figure 5. The areal exhalation rate from the porous sample in Figure 2, enclosed in three different exhalation cans. Two of them ( a1 and 0 ) are completely radon-tight and the third Cb1) has a radon leak rate constant v, numerically equal to the radon decay rate constant (v=A= 2.1 10" s" ). The cans are closed at time zero. The radon exhalation evolution as a function of time is discussed in the text (theory).

At this point, the system was tested with catalyst for activation and FTS, in the hopes that the seal leak rates would be impeded by the presence of small catalyst particles. The FTFE 20-B catalyst (L-3950) (Fe, 50.2% Cu, 4.2% K, 1.5% and Si, 2.4%) was utilized. This is part of the batch used for LaPorte FTS run II.20 The catalyst was activated at 543 K with CO at a space velocity (SV) of 9 sl/h/g catalyst for 48 h. A total of 1,100 g of catalyst was taken and 7.9 L of C30 oil was used as the start-up solvent. At the end of the activation period, an attempt was made for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis at 503 K, 175 psig, syngas SV = 9 sl/h/g catalyst, and H2/CO = 0.7. However, the catalyst was found to be completely inactive for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Potential reasons for catalyst poisoning under present experimental conditions were investigated. Sulfur and fluorine are known to poison iron-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts.21,22 Since the stator of the pump is... 

The leak rate of the chamber has to be so small that the pressure rise in the chamber during the time of valve closure due to leak rate is small compared with the pressure rise due to the water vapor. 

To insure an undisturbed water vapor transport (see Section 1.2.4) the leak rate of a freeze drying plant must allows BTM with sufficient accuracy. This applies for vapor pressure in the ice temperature range between -45 °C to -10 °C, corresponding to 0.07 mbar to 2.5 mbar. 

---