Prevent premature rupture disc failure on reactor vessels/autoclaves under high pressure & vacuum cycles and the potential loss of very expensive product
The problem: A biotechnology production facility was suffering repetitive bursts impacting production and the possibility of batch quality issues.
- During the cleaning cycle of an aseptic vessel, the disc was spontaneously failing.
- If a disc were to burst during a production run, the product would have to be scrapped at a cost of millions of euros.
The Cause:
- After ESI investigated the application, it was found that the high number of cycles coupled with incorrect installation, were causing the discs to fail.
- A cleaning cycle involves getting the vessel temperature up to 130C/266F and full pressure & vacuum cycles several times per day.
- The installed bursting discs were only rated for several thousand cycles before failure.
- Discs were also found to be installed incorrectly, therefore damaging the disc and failing below their rated pressure.
The Solution:
- The end-user replaced the discs with CDC HPX Reverse-Acting Rupture Disc which guarantees 5,000,000 cycles at a 95% operating ratio.
- All other discs on the market have pressure & vacuum cycles in the thousands, compared to the CDC Sanitrx HPX Sanitary Rupture Disc which has 5,000,000 full pressure & vacuum cycles.
- Continental Disc Corporation (CDC) has pushed the boundaries and recent R&D developments allowed it to change the way discs are manufactured by using laser technology and developing a new opening mechanism.
- This background and expertise in disc testing have allowed them to guarantee 5,000,000 pressure – full vacuum cycles on the HPX disc.
- CDC has carried out extensive in-house testing and as standard has the most rigorous Lot Qualification Procedures in the industry.
- Precision scoring on the vent side of the dome improves cyclic life as the score is in compression rather than shear which for aseptic applications is better, as the score is not in contact with the process.
ESI offered the SANITRX HPX because it is designed specifically for high cycling applications. The problem of early failure, financial loss and unplanned shutdowns caused by fatigue can be overcome by using a disc that is specifically designed for such high cycle applications.
The HPX and SANITRX HPX rupture (bursting) discs are differential pressure relief devices that provide an instantaneous full-open, non-reclosing design for protecting equipment, vessels, systems and people from over-pressure conditions.
These high-precision reverse-acting rupture (bursting) discs offer proven performance with the added benefit that the scoreline is downstream of the disc and out of the process, thus offering added clean-ability.
For further information on rupture (bursting) discs, send us a product enquiry.
