Paper Title
Leak Tightness Analysis of Bolted Body Flange of Heat Exchanger Near Pass Partition Plate

Abstract
The body flange connecting channel side shell to the tubesheet of a two pass heat exchanger is subjected to significant thermal gradient in the vicinity of pass partition plate. Half part of the flange is subjected to relatively low temperature as compared to the remaining half. This has implication on the leak tightness of flange joint. The design codes such as ASME do not address this situation. The purpose of present work is to investigate the behavior and sealing performance of such flanged joint with a flat metal gasket. A 3- dimensional finite element model including contact elements is used for the analysis. Results of contact pressure computed at gasket location are used to predict leakage behavior of the joint. Flange stresses obtained from the analysis are evaluated as per ASME criteria. Effect of difference in fluid temperature for the two passes on the leak tightness of joint is presented. Possible measures to mitigate leakage in such situation is discussed. Keywords - Flange, Gasket, Heat exchanger, Contact pressure, Leakage