Gaskets

[1969grad]

What is the current industry practice for gasket type for engine jacket water, aux water and non-potable water services. Seems we have gotton into the habit of using spiral wound gaskets for everything which may not be the best choice or just an unnecessary expense for these services.

 

[TBP]

A lot of plants standardize gaskets, fittings, pipe, etc to accomplish 2 things.

One - It make it hard to make a mistake in using an un-rated component in high pressure/temperature and/or hazardous services.

Two - It cuts down on inventory costs.

 

[dave2109]

I think that spiral wound gaskets are overkill for the types of systems you're describing. I've always used the fibre-elastomer flat gaskets for 150# water systems like these. The cost of using spiral wound gaskets just doesn't make sense. Also, if you're in a jam, you can cut a flat gasket out of a sheet of gasket material.
For all 300#+ systems or higher temperature 150# systems, I've usually used the spiral wound gaskets.
I agree with you about people being in the habit of specifying spiral wound no matter what the application. Our company's standards specify spiral wound gaskets. I think part of the reason is it's a safe default if you have people working on a project that don't have much experience with gasket selection.