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What Does Gasket Installation Really Cost ?


What Will a Steam Leak Cost?



For this scenario, we have two pipe fitters: Doodley DoRight & Didley Doofus. Both employees work at similar companies in town with the exact same amount of experience and training. Doodley DoRight places a high degree of importance on the installation of gaskets in his plant, whereas Didley Doofus prides himself on how fast he can install the gasket and move on to the next task. 

Below is a side by side comparison of Doodley & Didley’s installation of each gasket in the same application in a single bolted flange connection and the associated costs over a short, 12-day period.






Based on this scenario, here are a few things to consider: Proper gasket installation is initially more time consuming but it improves your return on investment (ROI) – increasing operating profit by reducing overall downtime and gasket inventory requirements. This analysis is based on one 3” 150# bolted flange joint. Just think about how many bolted joints are in an average industrial facility, and just how many of these bolted joints leak on average.

The Cost of a Correct Gasket Installation

    3” 150# ring gasket (1/8”)

    Cost of intermediate pipefitter: $30.00/hr

    Steam cost of $11.38/1000 lbs (150 psig) of stea


Small Steam Leak = Big Cost

To help illustrate the costs associated with steam leaks, I have put together a bar graph using a steam loss calculator from American Plant Maintenance, found at www.apmnortheast.com. The graph shows the average cost of a steam leak based on the diameter of the leak.




Now just imagine the above costs associated with 5, 10 or even 25 leaking bolted joint assemblies in your plant. Pretty scary thought, isn’t it?

Finally, the most important part of installing a gasket correctly is the safety factor. I mean, what if the final failure occurred during the last retightening sequence? Didley could have been seriously burned which could have resulted in a loss time incident, heavy fines or even a lawsuit. Let’s not forget that there are also environmental considerations which failing to comply with could introduce hefty fines, negative media attention or even remediation


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