New Componit

Fabric Expansion Joints and Compensators

When we speak about plant maintenance, the companies immediately think about activities that take a lot of time and money, without realizing that skipping the periodic maintenance can lead to serious problems.

In fact there is a risk of several problems that may result in sudden plant shutdown.

Can you imagine the damage to production, delays in delivery and customers waiting ?

Therefore, maintenance is NOT a waste of time.

If we talk about fabric expansion joints, the scheduled maintenance must be understood as an integral part of a correct production management.

In fact, the break of a fabric expansion joint can lead to interruption of production, or accident at the workplace.

In order to prevent these events, it is enough to plan periodic checks to find out any problems and intervene before they cause damage.

How to carry out maintenance?

First of all, we must keep in mind that fabric expansion joints are subject to wear, especially if they are subjected to extreme working conditions.

The first signs of wear should be repaired, if possible, or replaced.

After this fundamental premise, let’s see how to carry out the maintenance, step-by-step.

1. Drawing up a preventive maintenance plan

For expansion joints, as well as for other equipment, it is necessary to draw up an annual maintenance plant, taking into account also the type of expansion joint and the condition of the plant.

2. Identifying the maintenance personnel

    Depending on the type of plant, a manager must be identified within the company and sufficiently trained to assess the state of the expansion joints.

    3. Be in touch with the manufacturer

    This point is fundamental and at New Componit we’ll never stop repeating it: the maintenance manager of the company must communicate with the manufacturer of expansion joints or with the company to which it was decided to entrust the controls.

    The timing and the type of analysis to be performed, must be defined by expert technicians, depending on the needs of the plant and the working conditions to which the expansion joint is subjected.

    4. Draw up a maintenance data sheet

    All control and maintenance activities must be recorded in a special tab so that you can easily and quickly access this information.

    5. Pay attention to the supplier

    Usually companies that produce fabric expansion joints sell their products with a guarantee of several years, but do not take care of their maintenance.

    It is therefore essential to buy the fabric expansion joints from a supplier who, in addition to the warranty, is able to support you throughout the life of his product.

    We at New Componit not only provide you with the product but we offer a repair and maintenance service, that prevents problems or production interruptions due to a worn joint.

    For this reason, we have designed the Efficiency Box® that allows us to respond to every type of customer need, in order to make production systems more efficient and safe.

    Efficiency Box® includes:

    • Monitoring of the plant, carried out directly by our skilled staff;
    • Design and supply of the required interventions, with simple but technologically advanced solutions;
    • Installation by New Componit personnel or assembly supervision;
    • Direct assistance and immediate response with a dedicated toll-free number.

    Want to improve comfort and performance in your plant with a tailored solution?

    The tightness of a fabric expansion joint depends on two key factors: the permeability of the materials used and the level of tightness in the flange area.

    Multilayer fabric expansion joints with porous textile materials exhibit significant permeability, whereas single-layer fabric expansion joints, especially those laminated with PTFE, have low permeability.

    The final outcome is influenced by the pressure exerted by the flange, counter flanges, and bolt size.

    Want to improve comfort and performance in your plant with a tailored solution?

    When a plant stops due to a breakdown, it is necessary to solve quickly the problem, in order to restart the production, as soon as possible.

    As you know, any downtime means a significant economic loss. In particular if the damage is on a metal expansion joint, placed in a wall pass, roof or bottom of a recovery boiler, in a combined cycle plant, it is important to act immediately.

    This type of situation is not that impossible, since expansion joints are often subject to damages. These are flexible connections, whose purpose is to absorb vibrations and compensate the movements, the expansion joints are subject to different types of mechanical stress, as unexpected vibrations or movements, which lead to possible damage.

    In these cases, the intervention can have the dual purpose of restarting the system immediately and at the same time ensuring that the compensator is able to work correctly until the scheduled maintenance stop. It is therefore necessary to find a solution that is simple and quick to install.

    Fabric expansion joints are the ideal solution

    With this premise a fabric expansion joint is the ideal solution as it is a product:

    • technological from the production point of view
    • simple to install
    • easy to replace

    In particular, ultra-performing fabric expansion joints are required in combined cycle energy production plants since movements and pulsations in the boiler can be particularly intense.

    The first time New Componit faced an intervention of this type was more than 20 years ago: an Italian thermoelectric plant had a similar problem that New Componit solved by means of a fabric expansion joint.

    Since then Piperflex®, fabric expansion joints designed and produced by New Componit for these particular conditions, have changed and evolved considerably. Today these products have become essential for:

    • scheduled maintenance intervention of plants;
    • revamping of GVR modules in electricity production plants.

    Piperflex® are a type of expansion joints designed for wall pass in recovery boilers (HRSG), with some important advantages:

    • high capacity to compensate large movements, both lateral and axial;
    • unique heat reduction characteristics (up to 900°C);
    • good gas tightness.

    They can also successfully replace metal expansion joints for the same applications.

    On this purpose, we can say that, in sector like thermoelectric plants, which are  forced to several “stop & go” (depending on energy demand ), metal expansion joints are subject to frequent damages, as they have not been designed for such demanding cycles.

    It is for this reason that New Componit has created a task force for intervention in combined cycle plants by supplying and replacing metal expansion joints with fabric expansion joints.

    Piperflex® are the result of a continuous research process for more and more efficient materials, capable of withstanding ever higher temperatures and expansion movements.

    Furthermore, New Componit offers its customers a tailor-made service called Efficiency Box® which responds to all customers requests, in order to make their production system more productive and safer.

    Efficiency Box® includes:

    1. SYSTEM MONITORING, carried out directly by a New Componit qualified consultant.
    2. DESIGN AND SUPPLY of the required interventions with simple but technologically advanced solutions.
    3. INSTALLATION by New Componit personnel or ASSEMBLY SUPERVISION on site.
    4. DIRECT ASSISTANCE AND READY FOR WORK with a dedicated toll-free number.

    Want to improve comfort and performance in your plant with a tailored solution?

    How many different needs and opportunities are there in the world of industrial fans and in air and flue gas vacuum systems?

    Always more frequently, those who produce expansion joints, or like us who design and produce fabric solutions for heat and noise control, are contacted by manufacturers of industrial fans, in order to solve problems, that until a few years ago were neglected.

    Soundproof expansion joints, resistant to acids, perhaps made with antistatic materials, thermal or thermo-acoustic jackets, are all accessories required as original part of a fan.

    For obvious reasons, the producers of fans, are increasingly involved in the search of the most suitable product for their needs and this pushes us to study more and more innovative solutions.

    Want to improve comfort and performance in your plant with a tailored solution?

    Since the development of our company is based on a process of continuous research, which has allowed us a constant improvement over the years, we often ask ourselves: “How can we guarantee our customers that our products really meet their needs?”

    “How can we be sure to satisfy the technical characteristics required by customers or by a tender specification?”

    The data reported on technical data sheets are a starting point, but sometimes they are not enough, in particular if we are talking about highly technological or custom-made solutions.

    It is exactly in these cases that the possibility to test the products becomes essential to understand what happens, during the working steps, to the different materials, subjected to extreme and stressful conditions.

    Tests, reports, videos e analysis can describe the behavior of materials used under particular stress conditions; this kind of information is important to overcome any doubts about the performance of the product

    Furthermore, offering this type of service allows the company to differentiate itself from other competitors.

    Obviously, it is necessary to assemble a team specialized in “research and development”, which can work in laboratory and test room, equipped with special software for simulating the working conditions.

    Want to improve comfort and performance in your plant with a tailored solution?

    We are leaders in solving problems related to heat, noise and expansion due to temperature changes; we can boast a long experience in the technological field, and this allows us to better study your needs and how to solve them.

    Today, New Componit produces textile expansion joints, insulating and fireproofing jackets and safety shields, used in the energy production process, offering our customers turn key solutions designed to better meet their needs.

    The most advanced technology, the most sophisticated equipment, the certified Quality System, are the tools at its disposal to ensure that everything in the Company process is prepared so that the product delivered corresponds exactly to expectations.

    Want to improve comfort and performance in your plant with a tailored solution?

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