Dual Sealing Plug Assembly With Isolation Bleed for High-Pressure Pipes
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealing plug assemblies for pipes often fail or leak at high pressures, posing safety hazards and compromising the integrity of the sealing process.
Innovation Solution
A sealing plug assembly with two separate sealing elements, an isolation plate, and a nose piece, where the isolation plate is located between the two sealing elements and connects to a nose flow pathway, allowing for efficient sealing and product diversion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single sealing element is used in the sealing plug assembly, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability of sealing at high pressures deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing plug assembly is divided into multiple sealing elements (first sealing element and second sealing element) positioned at different locations within the plug. This segmentation allows each sealing element to independently contribute to the overall sealing function, thereby improving sealing reliability at high pressures while maintaining manageable device complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The isolation plate is positioned between the first and second sealing elements to create an isolation zone that can be evacuated beforehand. This prior cushioning approach prepares the sealing system by removing gas or vapor from the isolation zone before final sealing, ensuring that pressure differentials do not compromise the sealing integrity during operation
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the isolation zone is not evacuated, then the device complexity is reduced, but the harmful factors (gas or vapor interference) increase
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful gas or vapor is extracted from the isolation zone through the evacuation port and evacuation line connected to the vacuum source. This extraction removes the harmful factors that would otherwise interfere with the sealing process, allowing the isolation zone to be properly sealed between the two sealing elements
Solution Approach 2:
The isolation plate serves as an intermediary structure that creates the isolation zone and provides the evacuation port. This intermediary component facilitates the removal of harmful gases or vapors while maintaining the structural integrity needed for high-pressure sealing, bridging the gap between the two sealing elements
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a sealing plug assembly for stopping flow of a product in a pipe, the assembly having two sealing elements and having an isolation zone in the assembly which can be drained by a bleed lance to maintain pressure in the isolation zone within a safe limit. The present disclosure further provides sealing elements, bleed lances, systems, and methods of using the same. A benefit of the sealing plug assembly, and methods of using the same, can include forming safer seals during line stopping and the efficiency of recovering product.